Code Geass - The Paths He Chose
by cipherknight
Summary: If your life was reset to zero by forces beyond your comprehension, how far would you go to reclaim what you lost? What paths would you take? What allies/enemies would you make? One amnesiac young man must struggle with finding the answers to these difficult questions, unaware of how the consequences of his choices will affect the world around him...
1. My Name Is

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Code Geass...as much as I really wish I did. One of the sickest, most awesome anime ever conceived. Hat's off to you, Ichirou Okouchi!**

 **P.S.: This will be the only time I write this disclaimer. Repeating myself is annoying. So administrators, if you need to see it again, just refer back to this chapter. Thanks, now on with the show!**

 **Chapter 1 - "My Name Is..."**

* * *

"… _Run…Run…Run…"_

The stillness and quiet of the ghettos in Area 11 were broken by the hasty footsteps of a frantic shadow darting about. The darkness hid his features well, though one could still make out the tattered rags he wore as clothing: torn black pants, the shredded fabric that was once a hospital gown, and boots that didn't seem to fit the man's feet well at all. But none of these inconveniences hindered him, as he continued to follow the voice in his head…well, **one** of the voices in his head.

" _Blood pressure's dropping! Up the dosage!"_

" _-finished injecting the velocity 6…"  
_

"… _your destiny has only just begun, little one…"_

' _Dammit…get out of my head!'_ the crazed individual screamed mentally as he continued on his erratic path, looking over his shoulder every few seconds. He could've sworn he heard the soldiers on his tail, but every time he checked behind him, there was no one. But he wouldn't be fooled, _'Seriously, it's like they're ghosts or something…why are they chasing me?'_

He suddenly paused as a flash of light went off in his brain, temporarily blinding him. Suddenly he had a brief vision of…a strange temple. Though the image was fleeting, he was able to make out a mountain of sorts…and many pillars…along with a strange arcane symbol that felt…familiar?

' _Just what I need…strange pictures in my head…what the hell is going on with me?!'_

Hearing the footsteps behind him again, the mysterious youth picked up his pace, not realizing the blinding speed at which he was running. Nor the unbelievable height of his jumps as he cleared fences and barricades that dotted the ghetto he was in the process of escaping. The fleeing figure idly noted the moment when he hopped one barricade, his fingers left deep impressions in the concrete, but that observation took a backseat as more lights seemed to flash everywhere, disorienting him while he was bombarded with more voices.

" _-vitals are stable, beginning the next phase-"_

" _there's my little sochi! Where did you go-"_

" _-you need strength in this world if you wish to change anything…"_

" _Run…Run…don't stop….keep running…!"_

"AAAARGH!" he screamed out loud as he clutched his head in his hands and knelt down to the hardened ground in pain. The young man's breaths came in quick pants as he tried to relieve the pain.

"Hold on! I think I heard something down this way!"

Barely hearing the 'ghosts' through his pain, the young man suddenly leapt up to his feet and ran again. The panicked boy never stopped for a moment, even when the environment around him began to change from destroyed buildings and bomb craters to elaborate skyscrapers and cleanly paved roads. Soon, even those surroundings changed to lush grass and forests. It was only when he no longer heard the 'ghosts' that the strange youth slowed down.

"Hah…hah…hah…I think…I lost them…" he wheezed before trudging over to what appeared to be a series of arches placed above a paved walkway, though it was too dark to see the vast campus that opened up before him. Placing a hand on the first arch to steady himself, the exhausted youth looked up and read the words written on a fancy looking gold sign, "…Ashford…Academy…"

Shaking his head as more whispers echoed in his mind, the young man clumsily trudged further along the walkway, making it to the side of the main building before his strength finally gave out and he surrendered to unconsciousness.

* * *

"YOU LOST HIM?!"

The jittery soldiers could only cringe under the terrifying glare being leveled at them by their superior, General Bartley Asprius of the Holy Britannian Army. The large, balding man seethed as he heard the report from his field scouts, especially at the part about their failure to recapture the target.

"W-We almost had him in the Shinjiku Ghetto, but he was able to tap into his abilities and give us the slip," the head scout reported, fighting the urge to tremble, "The latent drugs in his system must have caused a sizable release of adrenaline, allowing him to access his new 'talents' and escape…"

"I DON'T WANT TO HEAR EXCUSES FROM YOU IMBECILES!" the large general shouted, his soldiers recoiling back from the sheer force of his voice, "If we don't re-acquire him immediately, then all of our work will be exposed! Not to mention his implied aptitude with the _other_ test subject!"

Turning his back to his cowed underlings, Bartley approached a rather complex computer system and brought up several files, one of which included a picture of a strange red pod, "Until we get him back, we cannot efficiently continue our other tests! So to prevent this colossal crap up from getting any WORSE, I order you to assemble squads eleven through fifteen and DOUBLE, no, TRIPLE your search radius! I want that boy found, and I want him found NOW! AS a matter of fact, I want him found YESTERDAY!"

Unseen by his subordinates, the general was internally sweating buckets and only through sheer will was he able to conceal how nervous about the situation he actually felt, _'First we lose Code R, then I don't hear from the Prince for days, only to find out that he's dead, and now this?! It's almost as if God himself decided to step in and completely screw over this entire project for his own sick pleasure!'_ he thought to himself as he gave a hard glare to those still lingering soldiers who were too frozen in fear to move.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU ALL WAITING FOR, A WRITTEN INVITATION?! GET MOVING YOU BRAINLESS INGRATES!"

"YES SIR!"

' _Well…at least mindless soldiers haven't changed much,'_ the general sneered as he watched the room erupt in activity, _'Still afraid of the badges and stripes…sadly the only things I have going for me now.'_

* * *

The following morning seemed to start off rather blandly at the reputable Ashford Academy, the campus steadily coming alive with students heading off to class or any number of club activities. The mood seemed to be a mix of liveliness and complacency, though all of the students had a happy, cheerful, and peppy air about them as they headed for their destinations.

…well, _almost_ all of them.

"Please tell me again why you felt the need to come into my room and drag me out from bed," a tired-sounding male voice whined, only to receive a giggle from their mischievous companion. Walking up the path towards the main entrance of the illustrious academy were two seemingly regular students. One was a very tall, thin young man of about 17 years of age, with pale skin, sharp amethyst-colored eyes, and ebony hair that elegantly framed his face. He was dressed in the Ashford Academy's male student uniform, comprised of a closed short black overcoat with gold detailing, and similarly designed pants ending in dark shoes.

The half-asleep young man was accompanied by a highly attractive and vivacious young woman, with blonde hair and light blue eyes that belied a playful nature. She was garbed in the Academy's female student attire: a white dress shirt with green tie, a light gold blazer, and a short, dark skirt, dark blue long socks, and black dress shoes.

"Ohohoho, seems like someone decided to stay up past their bedtime again," the woman teased, "Were you and Rivalz out gambling again, Lelouch? You know that behavior is _quite_ unbecoming of the Student Council Vice President, you know~"

Lelouch shot his friend a narrow glare, "For your information, Milly, I was home the entire night. Nunnally was having a nightmare, so I needed to stay with her to make sure she could go back to sleep."

Milly's smile dropped from her face, switching to a concerned look. As much of a prankster and tease as she was, the blond haired girl could become VERY serious when the safety and happiness of her friends came into play, especially one as innocent as Nunnally. The poor girl had suffered enough through her life and nightmares just seemed to add to her troubles. "Oh dear, is she alright?"

"She's fine. It was probably just remnant memories from… _back then_."

The bubbly girl's disposition seemed to sag, causing Lelouch to switch topics, lest she enter a funk for the rest of the morning, "So, you were saying something about a scavenger hunt before?"

Milly perked up again and launched into the subject, "Oh yes! The student council was thinking about organizing a campus-wide scavenger hunt! It will be so much fun! I was thinking we could-"

The tall young man yawned as he tuned out the majority of the young woman's explanations. Instead, he thought back to what had really kept him up the previous night, _'Damn, I've gone through several different theories and scenarios, but none of them seem foolproof enough to pull off this rescue attempt without severe drawbacks.'_

For the past couple of days, Lelouch's mind had been working tirelessly to come up with ideas to save his friend, Suzaku Kururugi, from being wrongfully executed for the murder of the presiding Viceroy of Area 11, Prince Clovis la Britannia.

' _I should have realized that they could possibly use him as a scapegoat, especially since he's Japanese, that title of "Honorary Brittanian,"be damned…'_ Lelouch mentally spat at the title in his head, _'Maybe I should have used this new power to convince one of the guards to kill Clovis instead of doing it myself…'_

He shook his head slightly to get back on track, before he could start overthinking his past actions, _'What's done is done. Right now, I have to come up with a way to get him out of this situation. Maybe I can recruit those rebels to assist me again? They owe me one anyways for saving them. Disorganized as they were, I'm pretty sure that without my intervention all but the pilot of Q1 would have died yesterday.'_

The calculating young man recalled his success with the assistance of the resistance fighters back at the Shinjuku Ghetto. Though a bit clumsy and disorganized at first, the ex-prince of Britannia had been able to coordinate them enough to score a massive victory against the Britannian forces, as well as create the opening the dark-haired man needed to infiltrate Prince Clovis' transport and personally end his life.

' _Right…if this works, I can not only save Suzaku, but I'll also create a true resistance force…maybe I can even convince Suzaku to join us-'_

"Lelouch! Are you even listening to me?!"

Startled from his thoughts, Lelouch looked glanced over to see an annoyed Milly staring back at him, arms crossed as they walked along the side of the main building, "What? Oh, sorry Milly, I guess I got lost in my thoughts for a second."

Milly glared at the sheepish-looking young man, "Seriously! You always seem to just block out the world at the worst possible moments! I swear-"

The young woman's tirade was stopped when she suddenly tripped on something sticking out from the bushes on the path. Somehow, Lelouch managed to maneuver himself just in time to catch the lovely girl before she could hit the ground. Weak as he was physically, even he wasn't inept enough to let a woman fall flat on her face like that, never mind a close friend…even if she _was_ a bit of a witch at times. "Milly! Are you alright?"

"Y-Yes, I'm fine…thank you Lelouch," Milly replied, still a bit shocked from the fall. She looked down to see what exactly it was that had tripped her, "Uh…L-L-Lelouch…?"

The ebony-haired young man looked down towards where his friend was pointing a very shaky finger. Sticking out from the bush was the lower portion of a person's leg, the skin scratched up and the fabric of the pants tattered. Quickly moving the rest of the bush out of the way, Lelouch uncovered the unconscious body of a young male, possibly around his age. The mysterious person had silver hair, his clothes torn in several places, yet there were no signs of open wounds or any serious external injuries. The ex-Britannian prince's sharp eyes caught a glimpse of a lithe, but powerful physique barely hidden due to the sorry state of the man's attire. Looking closer, despite the tatters, he could tell that his clothing reminded him of something…like a restrai-

' _Wait a minute! That's the same clothing the woman I found in that capsule was wearing!'_ the black haired teen realized as he saw what looked to be the remains of a straightjacket strap on the back of the outfit. _'Was there more than one capsule? If so, how did this one break free? Hm…that green haired woman's turning out to be more trouble than she's worth, I'll have to stay on guard…but first to make sure this poor guy is still alive.'_

"Oh my goodness, is he alright?!" Milly exclaimed as she moved in for a closer look. Lelouch pressed two fingers to the man's throat, "Hmm…he still has a pulse, although it's a little weak. We better get some help."

"I'll call the rest of the council to come help move him," the young woman quickly brought out her phone to dial the medical staff. While she busied herself with her task, she never noticed Lelouch taking an even closer look at the man now that Milly wasn't panicking around him.

' _He looks to be of similar age to me…although something seems a little…_ _ **off**_ _about him. Could he possibly be a spy from father, wearing the same clothes as that woman to throw me off?'_ he thought to himself, eyes narrowing in suspicion, _'I'll have to keep an eye on him for the time being…as well as keep him away from Nunnally. No need to put her at unnecessary risk…'_

* * *

 _A cacophony of voices and unwanted visions surged through the boy's mind, all of them coupling with more nightmarish images he wasn't able to identify._

' _Onii-chan, when can we…'_

 _A decadent looking house out on the plains surrounded by a pure lake…_

'… _have invaded the coastal regions and are seeking…'_

' _I promise, to all of you….'_

 _A firing squad executing POWs…fire…pain…_

' _Why are we ki….'_

' _My name is….'_

' _Uncle!'_

' _They're all dead…dead…dead…'_

 _STOP!_

 _MAKE IT STOP!_

 _At his frantic shouting, everything ceased all at once. Darkness suddenly overtook him on all sides, confusing his senses, rendering him unable to determine if he was up or down. Trying his best to move, the silver-haired youth craned his head up, but as for the rest of his body, it remained deathly still._

" _Where…am I? I remember…running…some large building…voices," he questioned, for some reason not panicking at the loss of movement in his limbs. At the moment, he was just thankful for the peace and quiet that came with the void space he was now in. Those memories and those voices…they all felt so real, almost as if he could reach out and touch them if he was so inclined to._

' _Still…who could those voices have been?' he thought, closing his eyes and trying to sift through the ghostly cries that plagued him, 'and why did they sound…familiar?'_

" _Trying to rediscover the past, are you? Are you not getting a little ahead of yourself, ***?"_

 _The youth's eyes sprang open, his head wildly moving about the void in his search for the newcomer, "Who are you?! Show yourself!"_

" _Oh my…there's no need to be so afraid. It is truly amazing seeing how much the loss of your memories has changed you since you were put into that…thing," the voice mocked haughtily, though a tinge of disgust could be heard towards the end. "Also, look more carefully you silly human, I am right here."_

 _The silver-haired youth looked to his left to see…a dark silhouette, with voluminous hair that ran down its back and beyond its feet, floating next to him. Due to the darkness, he could not make out its face, but something told him that the shadow was looking at him with a smug expression despite the fact that it had a rather…short stature. It was a little annoying to him frankly._

" _Who are you?" he asked the shadow again, his voice a bit firmer, "And what are you talking about?"_

 _The shadow raised a hand to its face to stifle its laughter, "Well isn't this ironic…you who wanted to run from his destiny after just barely grasping it...you who wanted to run from his chosen path when there was nothing left barring your way…and yet, the minute you achieved all you set out to accomplish, you threw it all away…Hah! You were always an interesting being, ***, but this is just too much!"_

" _Stop laughing at me!" the boy called *** shouted, finally releasing some of the anger that had been building ever since being chased around the ghetto, "Why can't you just give me a simple answer?!"_

" _There is no such thing as a simple answer in this world, boy," the shadow's sudden, cold reply threw *** off for a second, "And you have not the right to speak to me with such a tone. If I wanted it, I could render you as helpless as a child. After all…I AM the one who gave you your power all those years ago…"_

 _*** became puzzled, "Power? What power?"_

" _Hmm…well I suppose I can answer that question," the shadow mused, before an eerie smile came over its face, not that *** was able to see it, "Actually, on second thought…why don't you wake up and find out for yourself?"_

 _The youth noticed the short silhouette's hand moving towards him. Deep down, he sensed danger from that encroaching limb, but try as he might, he couldn't move away, "W-Wait! Wh-Wh-What are you doing?!"_

" _Don't worry little ***…the great journey can now begin," the shadow said, a teasing tone in its child-like sounding voice, "You have nothing to fear…not really anyway. Everything will be just fine…you won't even remember any of this little conversation."_

 _As soon as the shadow's hand touched his face, images surged across ***'s mind. Temples in the sky, a group of people with a strange symbol emblazoned on their foreheads, conquering armies trampling across desolate battlefields…the images were endless. One particular one stood out: it was of a younger *** standing with two much younger boys with blond hair, looking up at him with admiration and awe as he saw a throne in front them waiting to be sat on. Before *** could get a better grasp of it, the image disappeared, while more flowed into his brain._

" _Behold all that you have been…and know all that you can be…with the power of Geass," the shadow intoned as it pressed its hand against the youth's face, "I look forward to seeing what you decide to do with this world…"_

 _Incomprehensible pain soon racked ***'s body, almost as if every part of his body was being stabbed by white-hot stakes. He wanted to cringe, his body breaking into a fit of chaotic spasms, no longer held down by the mysterious force that had once confined him._

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!"

 _All through his pain, the malevolent voice continued to laugh and taunt him with the same line, over and over again._

" _Don't worry….everything will be alright."_

" _Everything will be alright…."_

" _Everything…"_

* * *

"GET OUT OF MY HEEEAAAD!"

*** sprang up, panting heavily as sweat ran down his face in rivers. Taking stock of his surroundings, the first thing he realized was that he was no longer in that terrible void, but in another person's bedroom. The soft mattress and sheets were a stark contrast to the hard ground that he had collapsed on the previous night.  
The second thing he realized was that he couldn't remember anything before being hit with an intense pain throughout his body. Not his parents, his friends, where he was from, nothing. It was almost enough to send him into a panic, but after taking a few breaths, the silver-haired amnesiac was able to calm himself down.

"Oh my…it seems our mysterious friend is awake!"

…until he made the third realization. He was NOT as alone as he thought he was.

Looking up with a slightly frightened gaze, *** spotted a mixed group of people walking into the room; a rather beautiful blonde girl with mischievous-looking blue eyes, a tall, ebony-haired man with amethyst eyes slightly narrowed at him in suspicion, another attractive girl with long, orange hair and yellowish-green eyes that gleamed excitedly, a smaller, shy looking girl with green braided hair and glasses, and a happy-go-lucky looking boy with blue hair and grey eyes.

Appraising the group for a quick moment, the silver-haired young man forced himself to relax, as he was unable to sense any hostile intent. He noticed they were all dressed in similar uniforms, leading him to believe he was at some kind of institution.

"Where…where am I?" he asked in a raspy voice, "W-What is this place?"

The blonde stepped closer to answer him, "Ashford Academy, the most illustrious academic institution in Area 11!" she threw her arms out to the sides, ending in a grandiose pose as she gestured to the area around her, "It is here that the youths of Britannia come to learn and harvest the great minds that will lead us to a marvelous future!"

"Oh boy, there she goes again on her spiel," the blue-haired young man whispered to the taller boy, who barely smirked in reply, eyes still narrowed at the amnesiac in the bed.

*** stared at the energetic blonde with a slightly lost expression, which said girl realized after several moments without a reaction from her audience, "Oh, pardon me, where are my manners? I am Milly Ashford, granddaughter of the president of this academy and acting president of the student council, comprised of these fine lackeys behind me."

"Hey! Who are you calling lackeys?"

Milly ignored the orange-haired girl's complaints as she motioned towards the ebony-haired boy, "Allow me to introduce first, our Vice President, Lelouch Lamperouge."

Lelouch nodded towards the amnesiac, "Pleasure to meet you."

"Next is our treasurer, Nina Einstein," Milly motioned towards the small, bespectacled girl, who timidly waved back, "And the one that talks at a mile a minute, our Public Relations Officer, Shirley Fenette."

"I do NOT talk a mile a minute, that's all you Milly!" a flustered Shirley defended before shooting a beaming smile at ***, "It's nice to meet you! Are you feeling any better? You were in pretty bad shape when we found you."

*** nodded, a bit overcome by the girl's friendliness, "U-Uh, yes, I'm…doing ok…thank you, for asking."

"And last but not least, this is our Chronicler, which is just a fancier way of saying our journalist or errand boy, Rivalz Cardemonde," Milly ended by pointing at the blue-haired boy, who smiled sheepishly at the explanation of his title.

"Pleased to meet'cha! Hope we get along!"

Once more *** nodded, before noticing that the rest of the council was looking at him expectantly. After a moment of silence, Shirley asked, "So…uh…what's your name?"

The silver haired youth looked down at the bedsheets bunched up in his hands, "My…name…," the sound of mocking laughter rang out in his head, a faint image of the silhouette of a person flashing through his mind, "…my name…is…"

A brief hiss of static screeched in his ear, causing him to hunch forward while clutching his head as a strange whisper seemed to enter it despite him blocking everything out.

'R…A…..I…'

Gasping and shuddering slightly after the brief mental episode, he took a few slow breaths to calm his frantically beating heart, and slowly returned to his original position on the bed before looking up at the now cautious student council members and responding, "Rai…my name is Rai."

The student council sans Lelouch breathed a sigh of relief, Milly nodding in content before continuing, "Well then, let us be the first to say welcome to Ashford Academy, Rai-san! You can stay as long as you need to recover. Our facilities and staff will provide you with anything and everything you think you may need, so you don't have to worry about anything at all!"

Rai nodded in gratitude, although the council president's words struck a chord in him, as if he had heard them recently somewhere else. In the dark recesses of his mind, the mocking voice laughed once again, sending a shiver down his spine.

' _The great journey will now begin…you're going to be just fine…'_

* * *

 **Author's Note:** Salutations and peace to the planet! Welcome to my latest self-challenge / fanfic project! This is actually a collaboration fic between myself and my awesome beta reader, Cloud Link Zero. He came to me with the idea a while ago, and through a lot of work (and him pushing me to get off my ass and just write), we've finally produced this. Since I'm also still working on _Kyoshiro no Tenchuu_ (my epic Love Hina fanfic...yes I'm shamelessly plugging it in here), updates on this will be rather slow, but I will be working on the next couple chapters in the coming weeks, so sit tight. As always, constructive criticisms and reviews are welcome and requested, flames will be put out with liquid nitrogen with extreme prejudice.

Til next time, Ciph signin off.


	2. Starting Anew

***Note - If you spot seemingly random text in italics, those are voices in Rai's head...don't worry you're not going crazy, it's just him.***

 **Chapter 2 - Starting Anew**

* * *

The warm rays of sunlight on his face and the presence of someone hovering over him slowly roused Rai back into the waking world. While his first instinct upon feeling another person so close to him was to run, the amnesiac boy quickly realized that whoever it was held no hostile intent. Gradually opening his eyes, his hazy vision focused on the visage of a beautiful blond-haired woman with mischievous, but kind sky blue eyes, and a body that would put many supermodels to shame dressed in a classy yellow school uniform.

"…Angel…?"

"Ohohoho! It's a lovely compliment, but wrong answer," the woman replied in a giddy voice, "You have two guesses left before you have to play a punishment game!"

Blinking the sleep from his eyes, Rai looked up again at the now grinning face of Milly Ashford, "Ah…apologies, Ms. Milly. I guess I'm more out of sorts than I first thought."

"It's quite alright, you are still recovering from whatever ordeal put you into this condition," the SC president dismissed with an airy wave of her hand, before glancing at the man with concern, "Did you sleep well last night? We were a little worried when you nodded off right after introductions."

Rai stared at her for a moment, trying to recall the events of the previous day. After getting the names of the student council members, he had lapsed back into sleep, still feeling immensely weak.

"I'm sorry about that, and I did sleep well," he replied, earning a small smile from the blonde beauty. Mentally, however, the amnesiac felt a hollow disappointment at how peaceful his night went.

' _...why do I feel as if I'm missing something...something important? And what was that...shadowed figure, that caused me so much pain when I was trying to tell everyone my name?_ _'_

"That's wonderful!" Milly exclaimed, jolting Rai out of his self-pity, "I was afraid you would probably have nightmares or something, but I'm happy that wasn't the case."

The silver-haired boy nodded, finding himself lost in Milly's smile and soft gaze. Somehow, her joyful expression helped his melancholic attitude fade away, if only for a few moments.

'… _She has a really pretty smile…'_

* * *

Lelouch was deep in thought as he casually made his way through the halls to the student council room. Finding Rai on the school grounds so randomly had raised quite a few mental red flags to the ex-Britannian prince.

' _We weren't able to figure out anything other than his name…for all I know, he could have secretly been sent by_ _ **that man**_ _to search for Nunnally and I,'_ he mused, unable to see any other reason why the silver-haired boy would just so happen to collapse outside of the school council building, appearing as though he'd been in a struggle with someone before succumbing to his fatigue, _'If anything, maybe I could use this new 'power' of mine to ask him a few things…'_

Approaching the door, the SC vice president soon heard the voice of his president inside, followed by the quiet, gentle voice of their recovering guest. Stepping inside, Lelouch suppressed the urge to face-palm as he observed Milly conducting her own, _personal_ interrogation of the mysterious Rai.

"So where are you from? How old are you? Are you married? Engaged? Are you royalty? Do you hail from Britannia?"

"U-U-Uhhh…?"

"No need to be shy, tell me! Tell me! Oh! Are you a knight?! Actually no, you look too young to be a knight…maybe a soldier in the army? Could you be a pilot of a Knightmare Frame?!"

"…."

"Milly, I think that's enough," Lelouch intervened, much to Rai's hidden appreciation. The blonde troublemaker pouted cutely at her stern vice president, "Oh come on, Lelouch! I was just asking him a few harmless questions."

The ebony-haired boy sighed, "It is one thing to ask questions, and another to bury someone under several of them within a minute," he turned his gaze to the still-stunned young man in the bed, "My apologies Rai. Milly can be a bit excitable when it comes to learning about people…especially their weaknesses and quirks."

"Hey!"

Rai shook his head, "I-It's ok. I can understand her curiosity."

"Right…well, now that that's out of the way, I do have a couple questions of my own," Lelouch began slowly, subtly picking up on how the silver-haired boy tensed up somewhat, "What were you doing that had you end up passed out in the bushes next to our building? From the condition of the clothes you were in, it looked like you got into some trouble…?"

Rai paused for a moment, trying to gather his thoughts and answer in the best way possible. Unfortunately, he had no answer, a pained grimace coming to his face as he attempted to dredge up what he could. "I….I can't remember…"

' _painlightshoutingrunninghadtogetaway…'_

Lelouch and Milly's eyebrows furrowed, not expecting such a reply, "You can't remember?"

' _hadtorunhadtorunhadtorunshadowsshadowseverywherehadtorun!'_

"N-No…I'm sorry." Rai frowned as he stopped concentrating on his recollection, the headache that had been building up suddenly vanishing along with some of his anxiety.

Lelouch pressed on, "Ok, how about this then. Where are you from? What's your family name?"

Again, the silver-haired man paused, doing everything he could to try and bring up something, anything from before the moment he woke up in bed the previous day. It was for naught.

' _Everything will be ok…'_

"….I can't remember…"

"Hmm…what about anyone important to you?" Milly picked up, "Do you recall any friends? Lovers? Fellow classmates at a school you went to?"

' _What a useful pawn you were…'_

"No…I can't…," Rai looked down to his lap in frustration, his fists shaking as they gripped his sheets, "I can't remember anything except my name…not my family…not my country…or if I had any friends, or what happened to me last night….everything's a blank…"

The blonde president gasped, holding a hand to her face as she stared at Rai in shock, "That's….that's terrible…."

Lelouch, however, wasn't buying it, _'He can't remember…or he refuses to tell us? If he_ is _a spy, then feigning amnesia would be a good cover, but too obvious of one. Still…'_

"That settles it then," Milly shot up from her seat next to the bed, surprising both Rai and Lelouch, "Clearly, you have fallen victim to terrible circumstances, and as you are, I cannot let you go back out into the world in good faith. Until you've recovered your memories, you're welcome to stay at Ashford Academy for as long as you like!"

Both boys' jaws dropped at the exuberant young woman's invitation, albeit for different reasons. While Rai was overcome by the woman's kindness, Lelouch was exerting a great effort not to question Milly's sanity. It wasn't working as he found himself shouting before he could reign it in.

"Are you serious, Milly?! You can't just offer enrollment to someone we just met right off the bat!"

"I didn't say anything about enrolling him, Lulu," Milly chided playfully, "I just said he could remain here while he recovers. But now that you mention it, if he truly has no clue about where he came from, then maybe enrolling him here would be the best idea. You're a genius!"

' _HOW THE HELL DID THIS BECOME_ _ **MY**_ _IDEA?!'_ Lelouch screamed in his head, fighting the urge to pull on his hair as Milly turned back to face Rai, "I'll have my grandfather draw up the paper work immediately! I can already tell you're going to love it here!"

Rai could only nod, still stunned by the blonde beauty's show of kindness towards him, a person she had only met the day before, "T-Thank you so much for this…I really appreciate it."

Milly gave him a beaming smile that almost blinded the recovering young man, "Think nothing of it! Now then, Lelouch, could you go fetch the documents I'll need from the office downstairs?"

"You can't be serious!" Lelouch argued back, "We should have him put in the medical wing and released to a legitimate hospital in the city! We can't look after someone with amnesia, let alone have him just enroll as a student!"

"Oh, stop being such a sourpuss, Lulu!"

"What's going on here?"

The arguing SC president and vice president turned to the doorway, where the rest of the student council were making their way in. Rivalz stared at the two questioningly, while Shirley and Nina focused on Rai, who was currently looking over at two people he _hadn't_ met yesterday.

One was a red-haired girl who was also very beautiful, but appeared somewhat sickly, with a distant look on her face. Her hair was neatly combed and fell to her shoulders, while her blue eyes seemed tired. The school uniform did a poor job of hiding her feminine curves, although Rai was beginning to suspect that would be the case with most of the girls he might see at Ashford. The strange girl glanced at him for barely a moment, but the silver-haired boy could have sworn he saw glint of suspicion in her stare.

The other newcomer was a girl that appeared to be a couple years younger than everyone else in the room, with billowing light-brown hair that fell to her back. Her eyes were closed, but she had an innocent expression of curiosity on her face. What caught Rai's attention the most was the fact that this girl was in a wheelchair.

"N-Nunnally?! What are you doing here? I thought you were resting," Lelouch immediately walked over to his younger sister, "And where's Sayoko? Wasn't she looking after you?"

"I was with her not too long ago, but then I decided to go to the gardens for a bit," the young girl replied, "On my way back, I ran into the others and they told me about a boy they found yesterday."

Rai watched the interaction between the two curiously, until a gentle hand on his shoulder caught his attention. Looking up, he saw Milly giggle, "Sorry, I forgot that these two weren't with us yesterday when you woke up. The red-haired girl is our newest Student Council member, Kallen Stadtfelt," Kallen perked up a bit and gave the silver-haired boy a shy wave, "and that little angel talking to Lelouch is Nunnally Lamperouge, our vice-president's younger sister."

Hearing her name, Nunnally looked over to the bed and said gently, "It's nice to meet you. I hope the others have made you comfortable."

Rai smiled at the girl, her voice sending a warm feeling through him, "It's a pleasure to meet you too. Everyone here has been very kind, I'm really grateful for all their help."

"We're happy to be of assistance, Rai," Shirley answered happily, "Are you feeling any better from yesterday? You seemed really tired."

Milly answered before Rai could even think of a response, "He slept just fine, but we learned something dreadful. It seems Rai has no memories at all of anything before he woke up yesterday."

At that, the entire room minus Lelouch, Rai, and Milly gasped, the reactions varying from person to person. While Shirley began tearing up at the news, Nina and Rivalz looked at the boy in shock. Kallen also appeared surprised, and Nunnally turned to her brother, "Is it true, big brother? Did he really lose his memories?"

"It looks that way, Nunnally," Lelouch replied grimly, "we asked him if he could recall where he came from or why he looked like he'd been in a fight with someone when we found him, but he couldn't remember any of it."

"That's terrible!" Rivalz nearly shouted, before turning to face Rai, "Hey, if there's anything you need at all, and I mean ANYTHING, you just let us know, ok? Here at Ashford, we look after our own!"

Rai nodded his thanks, "I appreciate it. As a matter of fact, Ms. Milly has already offered to enroll me here until my memories are recovered."

"That sounds just like our president," Shirley sighed, but perked back up almost immediately, "but it'll be nice to have a new face around."

"A-Agreed," Nina chimed in, "No one in your condition should be on their own out there. We'll help you however we can, Rai."

The silver-haired boy nodded, tossing Nina a smile as he responded. "I can't thank you enough for your help."

The dark-haired girl turned away quickly to hide a developing blush, "N-n-no problem. Think nothing of it!"

"Well then, it sounds like we'll need to throw a proper welcome for our newest additions," Milly spoke up, getting everyone's attention, "I was originally just planning a welcome party for Kallen as our newest council member, but now we can celebrate Rai's impending enrollment into the academy! Prepare the ballroom, my diligent lackeys!"

"For the last time, we're NOT your lackeys, Milly!" Shirley cried, but her protests went ignored as the mischievous blonde hastily pushed her and Rivalz out of the room, an exasperated Lelouch and a nonchalant Kallen and Nunnally following behind. Nina sighed before shyly walking up to Rai's bed and placing a bag on his lap.

"Milly asked me to bring this up for you…it's your new uniform," she began haltingly, seemingly too embarrassed to glance into the young man's eyes, "She probably intended on enrolling you from the beginning. P-Please, take your time and come down when you're ready."

Rai nodded as the girl quickly turned and left. Peeking at the uniform inside the bag, the young man leaned back into his bed and glanced up at the ceiling.

"Energetic…stubborn…willful…shy…but they're all nice people." He muttered to himself as he closed his eyes for a moment.

"So why do I feel so sad when I see them? As if I was surrounded by such people before?"

* * *

Rai tugged lightly at the collar of his dress shirt as he made his way down the hall, the boy still unused to his new uniform. It had taken a little longer than he had anticipated to put it on, his movements stiff as if he hadn't been able to move for a while for some reason. Once he had finished and inspected himself in the mirror, the amnesiac boy slowly made his way to where Milly had told him they would be preparing his and Kallen's welcoming party.

' _They really don't have to do so much for me…they've only just met me yesterday…'_ he mused as he approached the doors. It still struck him as odd how a group of people could be so welcoming to someone they didn't even know, let alone someone with absolutely no memories of who he was, _'Do I even really deserve such kindness? I don't remember what kind of person I used to be before all of this happened…what if-'_

His thoughts were interrupted when he suddenly stumbled, almost losing his footing and falling to the floor. Luckily, the silver-haired boy was able to quickly recover, and there wasn't anyone around to notice. Placing his hand against the wall for stability, Rai took a few breaths to calm the growing nausea in his stomach and right himself at the same time. "What the…what was that? I didn't feel _that_ weak when I got out of bed…"

Shaking it off as nothing, he continued towards the ballroom, where he was quickly noticed by a very busy orange-haired girl, "Rai! Glad you could make it! The uniform looks good on you!"

"A-Ah, thank you, Ms. Shirley," he replied with a slight stutter, for some reason getting rather flustered at such a simple compliment, "Is there anything I can do to help?"

Shirley placed the stack of plates she was carrying down on one of the nearby tables before answering, "Well, I think we have everything handled here, but if you want, you could ask the president if she has any tasks for you. Just don't push yourself too much, ok?"

"I'll try not to, thanks," he replied before looking around the rather spacious ballroom. All around the rest of the student council members were hard at work preparing a long table and setting out food. From another entrance, the amnesiac noticed Nunnally wheeling in with a large tray of assorted baked snacks and sweets. Somehow, it seemed the blind young girl was able to sense him, as she turned in his direction and smiled, "Hello, Mr. Rai! Are you feeling any better?"

"Y-yes, a little," Rai replied, a bit dumbfounded at Nunnally's spatial awareness. He knew that she must've had to train herself relentlessly to be so self-aware of her surroundings to the point she could determine his exact location before he could speak a single word. Shirley walked up to him with another stack of plates and giggled, "It's a little shocking, isn't it? Even though she's blind, Nunnally is able to pick up on any new presence around her. Kinda took us a while to get used to it, but if we managed it, then so will you."

The boy nodded, earning another grin from the orange-haired girl. Just as she was about to step away, her foot seemed to catch on something, almost sending her teetering to the ground, plates and all, "Kyaaa!"

Everyone's heads turned to Shirley's scream, but instead of seeing the usual sight of the girl on the ground rubbing her forehead and broken plates on the ground, their eyes bugged out at what they DID see.

Somehow, Rai had managed to not only catch Shirley in one arm, but he also caught the stack of plates as well, without dropping a single one. From the look on his face, the boy probably hadn't even registered what he'd done, "W-What the…?"

"W-W-Whoa…those are some crazy reflexes you got there," Shirley said as her breaths came in quick pants from the shock, "T-Thanks, Rai. You saved me."

"N-No problem," he muttered before righting Shirley on her feet and handing her the plates. All around the room, the rest of the student council could only stare at the spectacle amazed.

Or in two cases, amazed and highly suspicious.

' _Those reflexes…a normal person could never react that fast, or with that kind of precision,'_ Kallen thought as her stare went from shocked to cautious, _'Could he really be an amnesiac? Or has he been placed here by the army to rout out any rebels? Has my cover been compromised?!'_

On the other end of the room, Lelouch also narrowed his eyes in distrust, _'He definitely can't be a normal student…I don't think even Suzaku could ever pull off what Rai just did. I have to keep a closer eye on him…'_

"Well Rai, it seems you've been hiding stuff from us," Milly chided playfully as she approached the slightly dazed boy. Not wanting to be a part of whatever the mischievous president was planning, Shirley quickly walked off with the plates. Turning to the beautiful young woman, Rai shook his head, "Honestly, I didn't even know I _could_ do something like that…it just…happened."

"I see…well either way, I'm glad you were able to catch her. Those dishes are rather expensive and Shirley has always had a bit of a clumsy streak," Milly giggled at Shirley's angered shout of "Hey!" from across the room, "In any case, do you think you could take this tray of drinks over to Kallen for me, please? I have to help Nunnally set up the snacks."

Rai nodded and took the tray from Milly and headed over to Kallen. However, just as he was but a few steps away from the redhead, a powerful wave of nausea suddenly swept through the silver-haired boy's body. Destabilized by sudden loss of all his strength, as well as a powerful wave of chills running through him, Rai stumbled forward, the tray slipping from his hands and his previous forward momentum hurling the drinks into Kallen. The red-head shrieked as she was covered in all sorts of juices and sodas, while the others ran to where Rai was kneeling on the ground, one hand clutching his chest while the other feebly balanced him on the ground. He was heaving deeply, trying to keep bile from rising up to his throat while his head felt like a bongo drum being used at a festival with reckless abandon.

"Rai! Rai! Are you alright?! Answer us!" Milly cried frantically as she placed a gentle hand on the young man's back.

"…I'll…be alright," he replied haltingly as the unbearable nausea began to recede, only for his face to pale slightly as he saw the mess he made of Kallen's clothes. It was actually Rivalz that voiced aloud exactly what the silver-haired boy was thinking at the moment.

"…well damn…"

* * *

"Tch…stupid Britannians and their celebrations," Kallen muttered to herself in frustration as she scrubbed her skin in the shower. After the whole debacle with Rai collapsing out of nowhere, Milly had sent her to the bathroom to get cleaned up. Lelouch had offered to bring her a fresh change of clothes while she was showering, much to the president's hidden amusement.

"Well, if anything it'll give me a chance to figure out what he meant when he mentioned Shinjuku," the red-haired rebel mused, thinking back to earlier that morning when Lelouch had cornered her and told her to forget about the infamous ghetto. Clearly he knew something regarding it, and the only thing she could think of was that somehow, someway, the ebony-haired boy had figured out her identity. Kallen eyed her small pink purse laying on the side of the bathtub. If it turned out that Lelouch knew she was with the rebellion…

A sudden knock brought her out of her thoughts, "E-Excuse me…Ms. Kallen? I've brought a fresh change of clothes for you…"

' _Rai?! I thought Lelouch was the one that was supposed to bring me something to change into…?'_ Kallen thought, _'Wait! Actually, this might be an even better chance.'_

"C-Come in," she answered with a slight stutter, hating how she had to sound like a weak little girl. Hearing the door open and footsteps coming closer, she pulled the curtain aside slightly to peek out, "I-I thought Lelouch was supposed to bring me the clothes. What happened?"

Rai looked down at the ground as he placed the clothes on a bench, "I ran into him on his way over. I offered to give you the clothes instead…I wanted to use the chance to apologize for the incident."

Kallen felt a sudden warmth in her chest when she saw how upset at himself Rai appeared, but she brushed off the feeling, steeling herself for what she felt she had to do, "I-I see…it's ok. Uhh…do you think you could hand me a towel?"

Seeing her point to a fluffy white towel hanging on a rack next to him, Rai nodded and picked it up. Turning his head so as to not see anything inappropriate, he raised his arm to hand the towel off. Kallen, however, had other plans, as she quickly grasped the young man's wrist in a tight grip. Neither of them expected the amnesiac to suddenly turn his wrist in Kallen's grip and pull against her thumb with enough force to break free without breaking the girl's finger. Both looked at each other with stupefied expressions.

"What the…?! How did I…? I didn't mean to…"

Kallen reacted first, grabbing her mini purse and lunging out of the bathtub at Rai. Still in a daze at what he did, the silver-haired boy couldn't react in time and was tackled to the ground. Kallen wasted no time mounting him and flipping out the knife hidden in her purse, holding it to the somewhat shaken man's neck, "I knew it! There's no way you could be a regular guy with better reflexes than a trained soldier! Who are you?!"

Despite knowing that he should feel panicked at seeing a naked, aggressive girl with a knife aimed at his throat, Rai felt unbelievably calm, "I t-told you all…I don't remember anything prior to…Ms. Milly and Mr. Lelouch finding me…I'm telling you the truth-"

"I don't buy it!" Kallen interrupted angrily, leaning down closer to his face and pressing the edge of the blade lightly into his neck, "First Lelouch mentions Shinjuku the other day, then right after that some amnesiac boy just shows up out of nowhere and starts attending school with us? Just tell me the truth, you're with the Britannian army and you know who I am, don't you?!"

"I have no idea…I honestly have no idea who any of you really are other than how you introduced yourselves to me," Rai replied back, still wondering why he felt so calm when he could possibly be killed at any moment, "I don't know how I was able to break your grip like that, or how I managed to catch Ms. Shirley. My body just…reacted. That's the best way I can explain it…"

The two were suddenly interrupted by the phone ringing. Glancing up at it, Rai narrowed his eyes, "I don't know why there's a phone installed in the bathroom…but suffice to say, someone might come investigate if you don't answer…"

Blue eyes met lighter blue as Kallen stared down at the vulnerable man. Realizing he was right about the call, she slowly lifted the knife from Rai's throat, "If you say a word…it'll be the last thing you ever do, understand?"

Seeing him nod, the young woman sat up and reached for the phone, heedless of the fact that she was giving Rai a perfect view of her shapely, nude body from her shapely, generous breasts to her toned, flat stomach…

…and _down there_ too. He saw _everything_ down there.

'… _I see the carpet matches the drapes…'_

"Y-You've reached the Student Council, Kallen Stadtfelt speaking."

"…Good to see you're still alive…Q1."

Her eyes widened in shock as she realized who she was speaking to, "It's….it's you…the one from Shinjuku…!"

"1600 hours the day after tomorrow. The observation deck at Tokyo Tower. Come alone."

"Who the hell are you!? How did you manage to get that cease-fire order called through?!" she yelled into the receiver, becoming even more incensed, "Don't you hang up on me!"

After hearing nothing else from the other side of the line, Kallen angrily slammed the phone back on its receiver, nearly breaking it. Seeing her extreme reaction, Rai spoke up, "I guess…that wasn't from the student council then?"

Finally remembering who she was with, the fiery redhead shot a cautious look at the boy beneath her, "So…you mean to tell me you don't know who that was? You really had nothing to do with Shinjuku either?"

Rai let out an uncharacteristic sigh, "As I was trying to tell you…and as I've told the others…I don't remember anything prior to waking up in that bed…"

Kallen stared into his eyes for a moment longer, searching them for any signs of subterfuge. There was none, "So you really…didn't know who I was…at all…"

The temperamental red-head's face began to pale as the full implications of what she had just done began to sink in. However, her would-be-victim's next words would change that.

"No…I didn't…and it's not like you've let any critical details slip either," the silver-haired boy reassured, although he had no idea _why_ he was trying to put the young woman at ease, "Despite not having my memories…I can understand that people have their secrets…you have my word, I won't tell anyone about any of this."

As much as she didn't want to, something within Kallen just _knew_ she could trust the strange young man, who even after having his life threatened by her, was doing whatever he could to appease her fears of having messed up critically for no reason, "…and I'm supposed to just trust you…just like that?"

"…I guess so…"

'… _who_ _ **is**_ _this guy?'_ Kallen almost couldn't believe what was happening, but decided to muse on it later. Bringing her knife back to his throat, she leaned in close enough to put her mouth next to his ear, "…if I so much as _think_ that you said anything to the others…your memories won't be the only thing you'll have lost…understand?"

Rai nodded, "…I understand…I should…probably get back now."

The red head waited a few moments before getting back up and removing the knife from his neck, sliding the sharp weapon back into its hiding place. Shooting the boy one final glare, she rose from his lap and faced the other way, giving him the chance to get back to his feet and make his way back to the dorms…but not before Rai was given a delectable view of the fiery redhead's perky, round derriere swaying as she turned.

It was only moments after he left that Kallen went over what just happened in her head, and quickly looked down at her body.

Her _still nude_ body.

"KYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

* * *

"Hey, isn't that the new motorbike parts store that just opened up?! Can we stop there real quick?! Please?!"

"Silly lackey, this isn't the time for personal trips. We're showing our new friend around the city, remember?"

"Will you STOP calling us that?! I swear I'll file a complaint on you, Milly!"

Rai looked from face to face as the three most talkative members of the student council lightly bickered amongst each other while they continued down the street. After the party a couple days prior, Milly had come up with the idea to take Rai to the city, believing that maybe seeing the area might trigger something in his memory. The rest had mostly agreed, although Kallen and Lelouch both declined, citing prior-made plans that couldn't be changed.

"It's truly a shame Lulu and Kallen weren't able to make it, but I suppose I can let them off this one time," the blonde president reflected, remembering their refusals, "Kallen especially seemed rather…adamant about not coming with us…I wonder why?"

Upon hearing the name of the fiery redhead, Rai blushed faintly and glanced off to the side, recalling their "incident" the other day…as well as a rather _vivid_ dream he'd had last night of the gorgeous red-head. It had started from when she had pressed herself against him to whisper in his ear, but instead of a deadly threat, she had begun kissing his neck, making her way slowly to his lips. Before long, his clothes had vanished from his body, and next thing he knew, she was in his arms, their lips still locked in heated passion as their hands roamed each other's bodies feverishly. The silver-haired boy's blush intensified as he remembered Kallen's hand sliding down to grasp his hardened member, pulling it towards her entrance and-

"R-Rai? Are y-you ok? You're blushing…"

"Huh?" Rai looked over at Nina, who was looking at him with concern, and with a small blush of her own. Realizing he had almost been caught reminiscing about… _naughty_ stuff, the silver-haired boy silently thanked the forces that be that he didn't start having a nosebleed, "I'm fine…but thank you for asking, Ms. Nina." He managed to get out while giving her a smile, mentally grateful to her for helping him not get TOO carried away with his daytime fantasy.

The bespectacled girl's face turned an even darker shade of crimson at the small smile aimed at her and turned away quickly, "Y-Y-Y-You're welcome!"

"Hey, you two! You're lagging behind on the tour!" Shirley called out, grabbing the attention of Rivalz and Milly, who were further ahead. The wily president's eyes narrowed slightly as she watched Rai and Nina catch up, although from the look of things, the boy seemed just fine.

' _He had a rather terrible episode the other day at the party,'_ she mused, remembering how badly his body had been shaking, as well as how green his face became for a few moments, _'Hopefully the blood samples I took from him before he woke up will reveal more about his condition…'_

Those had been more than a headache for Milly to acquire. Despite being asleep, Rai seemed to have a sixth sense that gave him prior warning to anyone trying to draw his blood, and ended up swatted several needles away from himself. It was only after one had become embedded into the wall next to her head that Milly called in the heavy artillery, aka her old maid Sayoko to do so. With her special training, she gave off no presence for Rai to latch on to while managing to get three vials worth of blood from him.

"So over here is the new mall that opened up, and across the street is the history museum," Shirley continued to point out various places of interest to the amnesiac boy, who seemed rather curious about them. None of them really triggered anything in his memory, however, much to his disappointment.

"It seems…that I may be from another place after all," he said quietly, though the others heard him perfectly, "…none of these places seem to strike a chord with me."

Rivalz frowned, "Damn it! And here I was hoping we could trigger something," he paused when he felt his stomach rumble, "…you know, we have been walking around for a while. Why don't we grab lunch?"

"Capital idea! Very well then, where shall we go?" Milly asked, listening to several choices before Rivalz suggested a new restaurant that had opened up not too far from them that specialized in french cuisine. She noticed Rai's eyebrows perk up ever so slightly, "Does a French restaurant sound ok to you, Rai?"

The amnesiac boy nodded slowly, "Sure…I don't know if I ever tried it before…but first time for everything, right?"

"Then it's decided! Forward my loyal disciples!"

"Mouu~! What is it gonna take for you to stop calling us that?!" Shirley yelled out, but Milly had long since started on her way to the new restaurant. Sighing, the orange-haired girl walked along with her head down, "…I wish Lulu were here…"

Rai looked at the downtrodden girl before turning to Nina, "Are they…always like that?"

"Y-You could say that," Nina squeaked out, still unable to look at the boy in his navy blue eyes, "Lelouch usually acts as a bit of a buffer between Milly and Shirley, s-so without him here…well…"

"…I see…"

' _No wonder he seems so tired all the time...'_

* * *

Ten minutes later, the group was seated at a large table within the newly opened _La Vie en Rose_ , named after the owner's favorite song from a forgotten age of music. It was a quaint, modern place with several tables and comfortable chairs. In the center of the restaurant was a large oval-shaped bar with several flat screens hanging from it, displaying either the news or some sporting event. All around, waiters and waitresses rushed about getting orders and delivering food, yet despite how busy they seemed, the atmosphere was still rather peaceful…something Rai was subconsciously grateful for.

'… _maybe I don't like really busy places? I wonder…'_

"Have you decided on what you want to order, Rai?" Milly asked from across the table. Rai looked down at the menu for a moment, "I…think I'll go with this one."

Rivalz looked over at his choice and smirked, "You really seem to have a thing for chicken and chips, don't you?"

Rai blinked confusedly, "…I do?"

Everyone at the table chuckled a bit, before Shirley chimed in, "That's all you've had for lunch the past two days since the party. It's like you don't even see anything else in the cafeteria!"

Rivalz perked up though. "No, not just that. Remember when he saw the pancakes in the morning? Or the Cola we gave him later that afternoon?" he recalled to everyone, causing another wave of laughs to go around the group.

"Soon enough Rai will be dying his hair orange, acting really hyper and wanting to talk about all sorts of random things, like sloths and pancakes." Shirley joked, tears of laughter spilling from her eyes. However her whimsical flight of imagination brought everyone's minds to a screeching halt at the thought of Rai with hair as bright as Shirley's, blurting out whatever came to his mind at random and causing those around him much untold grief while holding a freakishly large war-hammer that could change into a grenade launcher.

 _'Wait...freakishly large war-hammer? Where did **that** come from?'_

Once Milly had that mental image in her mind she broke out into even more laughs, slamming the table with her fists for a moment before taking a breath to calm down.

"Oh I believe you've been watching too many of those ancient cartoons, Shirley," Shirley bristled at the accusation, however Milly continued on unencumbered, "but yes Rai, you do seem to be quite the picky eater. Well, that or you just found something you really liked and just want to enjoy it while it lasts." The busty blonde explained.

The silver-haired boy filed that bit of information at the back of his head for the moment, as the waitress finally arrived to take their orders

As the others told the young woman in the apron what they wanted, Rai found his eyes pulled to one of the television screens. Instead of a football or croquet game, however, there seemed to be a report regarding a procession of some sort. The cameras zoomed in on a barricaded road, with a large mob of people on either side chanting angrily. Some even had all sorts of trash and rocks in their hands, their enraged eyes scanning all over the street for a target.

"Hmm…that doesn't look too pleasant," he said quietly. Shirley regarded him for a moment before taking a look at the television herself, "Hm? Oh, isn't that trial scheduled for today?"

The rest of the table went silent as they too turned to watch the events unfold. Milly nodded her head as she recalled something she had heard in the hallways, "I believe so. The trial for Suzaku Kururugi."

Seeing the silver-haired boy's confused glance towards her, the beautiful blonde explained, "About a week or so ago, the presiding viceroy of Area 11, or governor in more simple terms, Prince Clovis la Brittania, was murdered during an uprising in the Shinjuku Ghetto," her eyes narrowed slightly as she saw the beginnings of the procession appear on the road, "by the time the uprising was pacified, the death toll was estimated to be well into the thousands, both Elevens and soldiers alike. Suzaku Kururugi, an Eleven granted the title of Honorary Britannian for his service in the army, was accused of the assassination soon after the Shinjuku Incident and was subsequently arrested."

Rai nodded, although in truth he barely understood what Milly meant. The only understanding that really stuck with him was that someone important had been killed and his accused murderer was heading to trial, _'Eleven…Honorary Britannian…how strange…'_

The more he rolled those terms in his head, the more his lips curled into a distasteful frown. It sounded terrible to be labeled a number of all things rather than a person.

"Hey, now that I think of it, didn't we pass a cordoned off road a couple blocks away?" Rivalz asked, glancing outside at what appeared to be an assembling crowd, "Do you think that procession's gonna pass this way?"

"I-I-I hope not," Nina stuttered fearfully, her body beginning to shake at the thought of being anywhere near an Eleven, let alone one accused of killing a Britannian prince, "E-E-Elevens are frightening!"

Rai took a quick glance at the terrified-looking girl, his eyes showing a slight hint of curiosity and concern, _'Strange...if she is so fearful of these "Elevens," then why come to their home country to attend school? Maybe I'll ask her about this some other time...'_

Milly sighed, "I don't think we'll have to worry. The barricades we passed could have been for something completely different-"

"Hey! Look at that! Something's coming!"

The students at the table perked up and glanced outside, where they were just able to catch a glimpse of an extravagant-looking white car go by a couple blocks away, on the very street that was lined with barricades. Moments later, the same vehicle appeared on the television in the restaurant, stopping a few meters away from a large procession that was awaiting on the other side of a highway entry ramp. Handcuffed in filthy prisoner rags while standing on a mobile platform, a stunned Suzaku Kururugi looked on at what seemed to be Prince Clovis' old transport. Judging from the surprised looks on the faces of the military and the crowd, they shared the wrongfully accused man's thoughts on the matter.

' _What the hell is going on?!'_

"Guys! Look at the top of the car!" Rivalz shouted, getting everyone's attention back. Standing on the roof of the car was a man dressed in what appeared to be an extravagant formal suit of purple, black, and gold, with a black cape draped across his shoulders and ending at his heels. His entire head was covered by a mask, completely concealing his identity from everyone.

"Who…is that…?" Rai asked, though no one was able to answer. The cameras zoomed in on the mysterious figure, but were unable to catch much of the dialogue between him and the commanding officer in charge of the procession, the aristocratic Jeremiah Gottwald.

"I wonder what they're saying," Shirley leaned in the direction of the tv, trying her hardest to read Gottwald's lips as he conversed with the suspected terrorist. A few patrons pointed at the screen when four knightmare frames jumped down and surrounded the car, with more shouting in surprise as the walls of the car collapsed, revealing a strange red spherical contraption. But it was the words that one cameraman caught from the suspected terrorist only moments later that would bring the heartbeats of everyone watching to a grinding halt.

"…the one who really murdered Prince Clovis…was myself!"

Gasps and screams tore apart the silence of _La Vie en Rose_ , as the many patrons and staff could barely believe their ears. The student council members were no better, the bewilderment from hearing the masked man, now identified as Zero, outing himself as the murderer of a Britannian prince had numbed their tongues.

"Oh my goodness!" Milly shouted, her hands covering her mouth as her eyes remained glued to the screen, "Could he…could he really be the true culprit?!"

"Maaaannn, this is just crazy!" Rivalz exclaimed, while Shirley, Nina, and Rai raptly paid attention as the reporters caught the rest of the exchange. Apparently, Zero had some kind of insider knowledge regarding a scandal involving Gottwald and something related to "orange," because moments later the pompous purist ordered the release of Suzaku to Zero. Rai narrowed his eyes at the two as they walked closer together, before jumping from his seat when he noticed something, "Look! He's got something in his hand!"

The rest of the table looked back at the report just as Zero pressed a button on what appeared to be a detonator of some kind. Behind him, the device collapsed, releasing a large plume of violet gas into the streets. The assembled mobs quickly devolved into panic and fled the area. Rai glanced outside the restaurant and noticed that they weren't as far from the commotion as he would've liked, "Everyone! We have to move now! That gas could be headed this way!"

The student council wasted no time jumping from their seats and dashing outside, immediately being swept up by the frantic crowd rushing to escape what they believed to be a deadly poison.

"AAAAHHHH! MILLY! RAI! NINA! WHERE ARE YOU?!" Shirley shouted out, she and Rivalz squirming around other fleeing bystanders as they tried to hook back up with their friends. Elsewhere in the crowd, Milly had just grabbed onto Nina's hand, the smaller girl immediately hugging herself to the president's chest and sobbing in fright when she had been about to be pushed onto the ground and trampled on, "It's ok Nina! I've got you."

"GET OUTTA THE WAY!"

Milly looked up to see another surge of frantic people about to bowl her and Nina over. Closing her eyes and waiting for the inevitable to come, she was instead shocked as someone grabbed her and her Nina and pulled them off to the side of the road, the unknown savior throwing their body over them for extra protection. Opening her eyes, the mischievous blonde was shocked to find none other than a steely-eyed Rai hovering over her as the crowd ran past, "R-R-Rai?!"

"…I'm glad…I was able to find you both," Rai managed to get out as another frenzied bystander roughly pushed against him in their blind escape, "I…started fearing the worst when…you both were separated from us."

A teary eyed Nina looked up and noticed her savior cringe slightly, "R-Rai! But how!?"

"I heard you crying…" Rai spoke quietly, the girls almost unable to hear him over the noise of the panicked mob, "…and I followed the sound to you…something just told me that you needed me to protect you…"

Suddenly, the silver-haired boy's eyes widened, the light from them fading as he caught the echoes of a memory…of another time when he was shielding someone…another girl…

' _Don't worry about me! Get out of here now!"_

' _I can't! I won't! I have to protect you!_

 _'I didn't mean to give that order! Stop! STOP IT PLEASE!'_

 _'...Protect...to the very end...'_

' _Is that so? Very well…you can both die then!'_

 _'Why...why is this happening!?'_

' _*******, get down!'_

 _BANG!_

A gunshot suddenly rang out and the memory began to fade. The last thing Rai saw as his vision was consumed by darkness were the teary-eyed faces of Milly and Nina as they screamed his name.

* * *

"….so he's re-awoken…took him long enough…"

Laying on the roof of the student council building at Ashford Academy, a lovely young woman with long, light green hair and slightly bored-looking amber eyes gazed up at the darkening sky, the light breeze slightly ruffling her odd white outfit. A moment passed before she suddenly let out a small giggle.

"Yes, I do imagine he'll cause quite a stir in this lifetime…especially if he ends up recalling his old life later…"

She paused again in her seemingly one-sided conversation, her soft face slightly scrunching up in thought, "…that is a good question. V.V. does need his power at some point…although how it might be affected by his new 'upgrades' is a mystery…"

Sitting up, the strange girl glanced around before sighing and slowly getting to her feet. Lightly tapping her backside to rid it of any dust, she turned around and began to make her way to the edge. As she stared out at the open fields in the middle of the campus, a small, amused smile came to her face.

"Of course Marianne…I'll keep a close eye on him…and on your children as well."

A red sigil, in the shape of a bird appeared on her forehead as she continued on with talking to seemingly thin air.

"After all, I failed to protect all of them once before. To neglect my duty twice would make me no worse than the nun."

* * *

 **Author's Note:** Greetings again everyone, and again apologies for the long wait. I'll probably be apologizing for that all the time, so consider yourselves warned. Due to some very drastic changes in my life, including the tragic passing of someone very dear to me, progression might take an even worse hit with this and my other fic. But rest assured, I'm not stopping either of these. This stuff is way too fun.

So Rai is slowly recovering and beginning to establish a better rapport with the student council...as well as having his fair share of mishaps. How will this affect his future?

Well...there's only really one way to find that out.

Big shout out to my beta and co-author for this story, Cloud Link Zero. Hope to see y'all at the next chapter!

Ciph signin out.


	3. The Beast Within

**Chapter 3 – The Beast Within**

* * *

Rai was secretly beginning to hate blacking out so much.

The silver-haired boy groggily re-entered the waking world, once again feeling the cool sheets of his bed enveloping him and the warm rays of the sun caressing his face. However, he wasn't able to really enjoy these sensations due to his mind working overtime trying to determine what caused his blackout in the first place. In his confused and disoriented state, it took him a bit to realize there was a shadow over him. Looking up, his bleary eyes vaguely recognized the blond hair and blue eyes of the lovely young lady hovering over him, but once again, his distracted mind came up with a rather odd conclusion.

"…If I keep waking up to a beautiful angel like this, I think I'll prefer death…"

The 'angel' laughed, the sound like bells chiming in Rai's ears, "Oh my, if you keep calling me an angel every time you wake up from an episode, I may have to start dressing more the part!"

The familiarity of the voice threw Rai back into reality, and his blue eyes refocused enough for him to recognize Milly Ashford's mischievous smile and playful gaze. Shaking his head to clear the last of the cobwebs, the young man adjusted himself into a sitting position and fixed the blonde president with a gentle gaze, "So…I suppose this means I need to apologize for troubling you again. You really are my guardian angel of a sort."

"To be honest, I should be saying that to you," Milly began, absently brushing a lock of her hair behind her ear, "Yesterday, you saved Nina and I from quite a dangerous situation. I shudder to think what could have become of us if you did not find us when you did."

Rai's face scrunched up a bit in concentration as he tried to recall the events of the previous day. He could remember touring the city with the student council, finding a new restaurant, and then the commotion that followed after Zero's 'rescue' of Suzaku Kururugi. However, the instance after saving the girls from the stampeding mob of frightened citizens was a complete and utter blank. If he wasn't in better control of his emotions, the slowly but steadily growing internal panic that was gnawing away at his guts might have shown on his face. Regardless, he managed a weak smile as he put up a brave front for Milly's sake.

"…It seems I can't remember anything after finding the both of you, but I am glad that I was able to help," the amnesiac boy said softly, "The two of you weren't injured at all? I don't believe I had the chance to ask before…well…"

A soft hand placed on his shoulder stopped the boy from descending into self-reproach at his episode, "We are just fine. You deflected a lot of the crowd away from us and pulled us into an alley to keep out of the way of the stampede."

The blond smiled at Rai's small sigh of relief, though internally she felt conflicted. While it was true that she and Nina had escaped physically unscathed, mentally was a different story. She did not feel the need to alert the silver-haired youth of Nina's relapse back to being more introverted, the poor young girl being traumatized by the mob of people and going so far as to avoid everyone for the rest of the day. Though in the same breath, one could also say that she had begun to develop a VERY unhealthy fascination of the same person that saved her.

"That's a relief. I'm a bit surprised to see that she is not with you now though," Rai questioned. Milly waved her hand dismissively, "Oh, she's just resting off the excitement of yesterday. I'm sure she will want to thank you herself when she wakes up…provided she can overcome her shyness."

Seeing the boy's confused look, Milly giggled, "Nina has been taking a bit of a shine to you as of late, despite not knowing you for long. It is odd for her though, especially given the fact you possess some of the facial features of a Japanese citizen." In her mind, it was best to think of Nina's growing fascination with him as a form of puppy love or a crush. More than once did the blonde haired bombshell see her green haired companion clutching at a picture of Rai sleeping on her cellphone like a lifeline of sorts when she thought she had turned away from everyone else in the room.

What Milly had pointed out was something Rai himself had noticed off hand, but with the shape of his face and eyes, he could definitely pass for being Japanese-born, so most likely he was a half-breed. The young man had resolved to figure out that mystery later on, maybe after some of his other memories returned-

Wait.

"…You said 'Japanese'…" he began haltingly, fixing Milly with a slightly raised eyebrow, "and not 'Eleven'…"

Milly giggled at his statement, but deigned to answer his query nonetheless, "Well, I for one have never been the kind to demean someone because of their blood or their country of origin. Unlike much of the noble class, I do not really agree with the Emperor's dogma of 'Pax Britannia' or the Numbers system. People have a heritage, a culture, an identity all their own. That is something to be respected and cherished, not repressed and outlawed."

Rai froze in slight shock at her words, but after absorbing them more, he could say without a doubt that his respect and admiration for Milly Ashford rose exponentially, "I must admit…that is a much better way of looking at things than I have seen from some of the others I have encountered so far. If only the rest of the world could share that same line of thought as you."

The blonde fought the blush that threatened to tint her cheeks and hid her face with a hand as she giggled again, "Oh my, aren't you the charmer. Flattery will certainly get you places with me, although not for a little while longer I'd think. You're certainly better than Rivalz and his attempts."

Rai chuckled, "I will be sure to keep that in mind. In any case, I think I'm well enough to move around again," he began, but before he could move his feet off the bed to stand, Milly pushed him back down gently.

"Easy there, you should rest more," she cautioned, while secretly admiring the feel of Rai's firm pecs under her hand and feeling his strong heartbeat, "This was your second episode in a week or so and while it may hint that you are getting better, I still take it as a sign that you have a bit of a ways to go before you are one hundred percent." It would have been so easy to fall prey to the moment of weakness that was overcoming her, being so close to him. Yet, she was high-born and thus had moral obligations she had to keep, at least for now.

The amnesiac boy wanted to refute his friend's observations, but he could feel it himself that he wasn't at optimal strength just yet. Sighing, he reluctantly obeyed and leaned back down into the sheets. As he settled in again, he gave Milly a slight smirk, "So, would I be correct to assume that you will be taking the role of my nurse from now on? It seems you are always the one looking after me when I have an episode."

For the second time, the blonde president had to fight a blush, although she wasn't as successful as before since a bit of pink did dust her cheeks. Pausing for a moment, she gathered herself up again and replied, "Hmm…that does sound like a fun idea, and it would give me the chance to put my nursing outfit to good use…but alas, that must wait for another day. Get your rest, Rai, and I'll come back to check on you later."

After ruffling his hair a bit, bringing a blush to Rai's face, Milly walked out of the room. After she closed the door behind her, she leant back against it and let out a sigh of relief, "Goodness…he really has no idea what he is doing to me, does he?"

Her face now a light red, the cunning young woman looked over her shoulder to the door that now separated her from the young man who's kind heart and gentle smile made her feel rather hot under the collar without any effort on his part.

"I'll have to be a little more careful with him," she said to herself, "I don't want to do anything _too_ untoward to him so soon." Though that wasn't to say her dreams that night wouldn't be of the more…adult variety with EVERY untoward thing she wanted to do to him and vice versa coming true.

As she finally got enough strength in her legs to head to the office, Milly took out her phone and began dialing a number, _'I should notify someone to be his guide later in case he requires assistance again…and I know just the person for the job!'_

"Hello, Kallen?" Milly greeted through the earpiece, "How are you on this wonderful day? I was just calling with a request for you that I think you might like~"

* * *

After waiting for a couple more hours and making sure Milly wasn't coming back for a surprise visit, Rai decided to head off on his own despite her warnings. Getting out of bed, he rummaged through a bag of clothes that the others had helped him purchase during their outing prior to the disaster at the restaurant. Selecting a pair of fashionable looking black jeans, a light blue t-shirt, and a white hooded jacket that ended at his knees, the young man quickly dressed, placed on his new black sneakers and hastily left his room and the dorms in quick succession.

"Please forgive me for being disobedient, Milly," Rai whispered, placing his hands together as if in prayer while facing the very place he just escaped from, "But staying in that room would have given me cabin fever. Besides, this is honestly the best I have felt in a while." It was true, which was surprising considering the last episode he had left him feeling weak and lethargic. At least it gave him a rather…generous view of Kallen in the end.

Making his way off campus, the young man suddenly had a strange feeling. Glancing back at the dorms, he narrowed his eyes in thought and hummed to himself.

' _Hmm…why do I get the feeling that I am about to cause misfortune to someone right about now? Ah well, it can't be that important.'_

* * *

Unbeknownst to him, as soon as he had gone out the door to the dormitories, Kallen had just arrived at his room, and she was not too happy at the prospect of being his guide for the day.

"Stupid Milly…just had to blackmail me into this," the fiery red-head grumbled as she knocked harder than normal on the door, "Rai! Open up! It's me, Kallen! Milly told me to keep an eye on you for the day!" Since he had seen her without the sickly persona on, she had no reason to hide her true self around him so long as she was assured nobody else in the school or city was nearby.

Getting no reply, the young woman sighed in frustration and impatiently walked in, "What the heck are you doing-"

Her words ground to a halt as she realized she was the sole occupant of the room, the silver haired boy being nowhere in sight.

"Oh no…where the hell did he go?" she questioned as she tore through the entire bedroom, peeking into the bathroom and checking every nook and cranny for any sign of the amnesiac young man, "Milly said he'd be right here! Where could he have gone?!"

Kallen's thoughts instantly took a turn for the worse as she contemplated just what could have happened to the boy, _'Oh no…did he run?! Could he possibly be heading to the Britannian military to rat me out?! Wait…no…he promised me…and he doesn't seem like the kind to go back on his promise…Awwww, it doesn't matter what he's doing, he's missing and Milly's gonna KILL me if I don't find him!'_

Clutching at her hair in a panic, she ran out of the room, heedless of the fact she had messed up her hair and looked more like the fierce rebel soldier than the sickly, prim Stadtfelt heiress she was disguising herself as at the academy.

Her only concern at the moment was locating her missing charge before her president found out…and made her pay for her grievous error dearly. She had heard the horror stories of what fate befell Lelouch during the dreaded 'cross-dresser ball', which made her shudder at what the demonic witch of a president could do to her.

"Dammit Rai! Where the hell are you?!"

* * *

"Hmm…I'm sure it's probably just my imagination," the silver haired youth concluded before taking a taxi into the city proper. He had a little spending stipend from the Dean of the Academy until he was on his feet and financially stable so he could afford to take a solo outing in the bustling metropolis. After getting out near the courthouse in the downtown district, Rai took in his surroundings and picked a random direction to walk in. Despite not recognizing anything around him, the young man found himself feeling at peace. It was a nice, sunny day and the people were milling about like normal. No danger, no threats, no unexpected surprises-

"Excuse me! Look out below!"

' _Why do I always speak too soon?'_

Quickly raising his head, Rai immediately spotted what appeared to be a pink-haired woman falling from one of the higher floors of the courthouse. Springing into action before he knew it, the silver haired youth jumped towards the girl, catching her several feet above the ground before landing as soft as he could to prevent hurting her.

"I'm so sorry, I had no idea that anyone was down here until after I leapt," the girl apologized, her voice ethereal to Rai's ears, "I didn't hurt you at all, did I?"

"No, not at all," he replied, finding himself slowly being drawn into her bluish-violet gaze, "I should be asking you if you were hurt. As well as what caused you to leap from such a high place without knowing whether or not something was down here to break your fall. You really could have hurt youself."

The girl paused for a moment before offering up a smile, "Well…see the truth is, there are some rather bad people chasing me, and I had to jump in order to get away! In consideration of the circumstances, would you be willing to help me?"

While he sensed something was off regarding the girl's explanation of what happened, for some reason Rai couldn't help but want to lend a hand, almost as if he was attracted to her by some powerful force he could not describe.

' _Somehow…I can't seem to say no to this young woman…like she reminds me of someone…but who?'_

"I would be happy to assist you however I can, Miss," Rai began as he set the woman on her feet, before realizing he had no idea what her name was. Realizing this, the pink-haired beauty held out her hand, "My name is…Euphie." Her eyes shifted slightly as she gave him her name, but he took that as a sign of nervousness more than anything else.

"Miss Euphie. Forgive my manners, my name is Rai," the silver haired youth took her hand and gently kissed the top of it, earning a slight blush from Euphie, "Well, if people are after you, I suggest we leave the area immediately."

Clasping her hand gently in his own, Rai began to lead her away from the courthouse. All the while Euphie kept glancing at their hands and felt oddly warm, as if the young man's very life force oozed comfort and safety.

' _He's so kind…I feel as if I could trust him, even though we've only just met…oh dear, my sister would have such a fit if she knew this.'_

Unbeknownst to the two, they had been briefly noticed by Suzaku, who had just left his hearing and been cleared of all charges when they were all 'mysteriously' dropped due to all the evidence being called into question.

' _Huh…wonder what's their hurry…'_

Before he could dwell on the matter any longer, Suzaku felt someone pulling on his arm. A quick look revealed the culprit to be Cecile, Lloyd's assistant. The enigmatic earl himself was waving to them from a parked knightmare frame transport truck.

"Come along now, Private Kururugi! We have quite a bit of work to be done and unfortunately thanks to your acquittal, you'll be working for me again!"

The honorary britannian wouldn't realize until later on why the man's words sent a chill down his spine. Until then, a forced smile was brought forth as he thought about how these two at least seemed to care about him more so than anybody else he's met aside from his childhood friends.

* * *

Having no clue where to go due to how he himself was new to the city, Rai led Euphie on an aimless tour, both of them taking in the sights around them in wonder. However, the pink-haired beauty never stopped smiling due to an amusing peculiarity.

Throughout their sojourn up until that point, Rai had never let go of the young woman's hand. It was funny, as Euphie realized this was the first time a boy outside of her family had ever done such a thing. What made it more amusing is that it didn't even seem to register to the silver haired youth that he was still doing it.

' _Normally I would have pointed it out by now, but for some reason I just can't bring myself to do so. Maybe it's because this situation is so much like those romance novels I read,'_ she thought as they left the shopping district and entered a large park in the area.

"So, where do you wish to head to next milady?" Rai asked, knocking Euphie from her musings, "I think we've seen just about everywhere in the shopping district and unfortunately I do not really know about where the other popular tourist destinations in the city are."

Euphie placed her free hand on her chin in thought as she tried to decide their next destination. Suddenly, she remembered the one place she felt she absolutely _had_ to visit no matter what, "Actually Rai, there is one area that I have to see before I go. Could you take me to Shin-"

"WHAT KINDA CRAP IS THIS YOU ELEVEN PIG?!"

Both teens looked over to see a Japanese souvenir vendor being heckled by four Britannian students, all in uniform. Three of them were flanking their 'leader', looking on smugly as the last member of the group angrily kicked over the vendor's cart of electronic goods, spilling headphones and music players all over the ground.

"Talk about shitty quality," the angry youth blustered before spitting on the downed cart, "Figures you Elevens can't even make a decent set of headphones. Why the hell we even allow you freaks into the city is beyond me."

"P-P-Please…no more! I-I-I gave you your r-refund already!" the frightened vendor pleaded, kneeling down and gathering whatever hadn't broken in the initial fall of the cart. He didn't expect the youth to suddenly kick him in the stomach, driving him back from the cart as he clutched his midsection in pain along with dropping his merchandise once more across the pavement.

"Tch. Somebody ought to teach you how things work around here," the youth sneered before motioning to his friends, "C'mon boys, let's show this loser how we 'welcome' Elevens in this part of town."

Before the boys could move in, they all suddenly found their path impeded by a silver-haired boy with sharp looking blue eyes. One of the main bully's friends took an intimidating step forward, "Hey buddy, move it or lose it!"

"That man has done nothing wrong and yet you attack him solely due to his place of birth," Rai whispered menacingly, "…such disgusting behavior should be beneath you Britannians."

The leader of the group punched his hand menacingly, "Hey loser, this ain't any of your business. Just step aside and maybe we'll let you walk away with all your teeth intact. Maybe."

"Rai!" Euphie called out as she ran over to him. The offending group of students gawked at her as soon as she entered their visual range.

"Duuuude, check her out," one of the other boys whispered to the leader, "Haven't seen her around before…think she's a model?"

The lead bully sniffed, "Worry about the girl later, first we gotta take care of Mr. Random Hero over here and then that shitty Eleven that thought he could sell us that cheap crap of his."

"Can't you just walk away and leave this man alone?" Rai asked, not wanting the confrontation to become physical. While he knew he possessed athletic talents thanks to his earlier feats, he wasn't so sure if martial arts were something else he knew. Given the situation, he really did not want to test that theory.

Unfortunately the choice was taken out of his hands when the lead bully rushed him, his right arm pulled back in preparation for a full-on right hook, "DON'T SAY I DIDN'T WARN YOU, PRETTY BOY!"

Just before his fist made impact, the boy was shocked when Rai caught the incoming hit with one hand and in one fluid motion, pivoted on his foot and slammed the bully onto the ground over his shoulder.

"Gahhh!" he screamed, spittle flying from his mouth at the impact. Behind them, his crew of friends were frozen in disbelief. None of them expected the leader, who was almost twice Rai's build, to get manhandled so easily.

"I…didn't mean to do that," Rai admitted weakly, letting go of the boy's arm and letting him get back to his feet. That would prove to be a mistake.

"You think you're hot shit?! THAT'S IT! YOU'RE FUCKING DEAD!" he screamed, infuriated at being embarrassed so easily, "GET 'IM, BOYS!"

The three rushed Rai immediately, ignoring Euphie's pleas to stop. They were all in for a surprise as one by one, the silver-haired youth easily evaded their blows, even going so far as to maneuver one boy to take a punch from the other. When one of them tried to tackle him, Rai jumped over the lunge, and had to suddenly fight the reflex to stomp on the boy's back as he passed under him. The lead bully tried several times to punch him, but Rai dodged every blow with minimal movement, until finally on an outstretched punch, he blocked with one hand, checked the offending arm to the side with the other, and countered with a punch that nearly broke the bully's jaw. Seeing their leader sent back to the ground and _not_ get up this time caused the other three to panic. Though that wasn't the only reason they ran so quickly. No, the reason that they ran was because during the entire fight, the boy never once tried to concentrate on the fight. Instead, he looked lost, confused and embarrassed that he was doing this. It spoke of skills FAR beyond their level.

"We'll remember this, you bastard! Next time, you're dead meat!" one of them threatened as he helped the others gather up their larger friend and ran from the plaza. Rai could only look on in slight confusion, having no idea how he managed to pull off defending himself so well, even going so far as to look at his fists in wonder. Euphie and the vendor were equally shocked, the thought of such a peaceful looking young man possessing the skills to fight off multiple opponents and triumph without any effort involved whatsoever disturbing them deeply.

' _I had no idea…I never expected…just who_ _ **are**_ _you, Rai?'_

Shaking his head with a sigh, the silver-haired young man walked over to the vendor and helped him to his feet, "Are you going to be alright, sir?"

"I-I think so…probably just a bruised rib or something," the vendor waved off, before smiling at the blue-eyed youth, "Thank you so much for helping me. You really didn't have to such a thing for someone like me…"

"What they were doing was cruel and unfair, and I despise that kind of behavior," Rai replied as he helped sit the man on a bench before going over to his downed cart and placing it back upright, "No one deserves to be persecuted based on their blood, their origin, or any other characteristic that makes them unique. Now let's get this cleaned up and then you can close up for the day and see a doctor."

As he continued to pick up the spilled goods and chat with the vendor, Euphie watched him from afar, a smile on her face as she witnessed his kindness.

The budding warmth she had started to feel in her chest when she first met the kind boy before her grew even more.

* * *

Margrave Jeremiah Gottwald found himself thinking quite a bit these days.

After his humiliation at the procession to take Suzaku Kururugi to trial, much had changed for the pureblood knight, and almost none of it for the better. Relieved of his command, placed under suspicion by his peers, and shunned by all but his closest associates, the once prominent soldier had truly fallen from grace.

As he sat in his Sutherland Knightmare frame, patrolling around the outskirts of the Shinjuku Ghetto, the blue haired young man thought back to that moment where it all spun out of control. However, try as he might, he couldn't recall a single detail after the moment he matched his gaze with the terrorist, Zero.

' _It's absolutely ludicrous! I had no intent whatsoever to release him, and yet…dammit! Why can I not remember?! This just doesn't make any sense…!'_

Try as he might, the young Margrave just couldn't put the pieces together. How one moment he was defying and challenging that upstart terrorist, and the next he's in a prison cell, watching footage of himself ordering his soldiers to release Kururugi, even going so far as to attack his own men to allow Zero and Suzaku to escape.

' _Maybe…was I drugged? I didn't feel any different, but maybe that blasted terrorist somehow managed to-'_

"Lord Jeremiah! Come in, Lord Jeremiah!"

Jarred from his thoughts by the incoming transmission, the disgraced pureblood picked up his communicator and replied, "What's going on, Villetta? I'm out on patrol in Shinjuku right now hunting for Zero on a tip Kewell gave me and I need to focus-"

"It's a trap! Kewell-"

A loud shriek erupted from the radio, before only static was heard, signaling that his communications had gone out, "What in the world?! Trap? What could she be talking about?"

Before he could muse on the desperate call from Villetta, his knightmare shook violently from an explosion, the sound of several rounds scoring hits on his armor echoing in the cockpit.

"Aargh! What the hell?!"

"Lord Jeremiah Gottwald! The Orange Traitor! Today is the day you fall, for the preservation of the Purists!"

Lifting his head from where he hit his console, Jeremiah glanced at the viewport. He hadn't realized he had gone so far into the Shinjuku ghetto, as he was surrounded by the ruined husks of apartment buildings and shops.

Standing atop the cracked roofs and in the alleys were at least five knightmare frames, their colors and emblems matching those of the same pureblood faction he once controlled. Before him he noticed a familiar blue knightmare with the emblem of the Soresi family on its shoulder, "…Kewell? Kewell Soresi?! What is the meaning of this?!"

Inside the cockpit of his knightmare, Kewell sneered, "This is retribution, Lord Jeremiah. Because of your traitorous actions, you have brought shame to the Purist Faction! Our loyalty has been put to question by the entire Britannian army and we face disbandment all thanks to you!"

Jeremiah was almost beside himself with anger, his face purpling with rage at such blatant disloyalty in the younger man's words, "You dare! How many times to I have to tell you, I can't remember doing ANY of that!"

"Enough with your lies!" Kewell screamed, "We all saw you! The toxicology reports were all negative, so we know you weren't drugged into it! You refuse to explain what "Orange" is and you continue to spout such a whimsical excuse as that…it is clear now that you have been against us all along! You are no longer fit to lead us!"

The Margrave couldn't believe his ears. These men had been his comrades for years, even after his failure to prevent the death of his beloved Lady Marianne. To see them all against him in such a way tore at his heart. Especially Kewell, who he had thought to be his most loyal comrade next to Villetta herself. For him to give false information, to draw him into this deathtrap… _'This must be what Caesar felt when he uttered that famous phrase. 'Et tu, Brute?' indeed...except replace Brutus with Kewell.'_

"So this is what Villetta was trying to warn me of…dammit!" he quickly reversed his knightmare frame, but before he could get far, three slash harkens crashed into his side, forcing him through the walls of several ruined buildings.

"Don't think you can escape your judgement, traitor!" the screeches of Kewell pierced Jeremiah's ears as he tried to right his Sutherland and move, "Accept the punishment for your crimes with honor!"

' _Dammit! I will not let it end like this! Not before I've even had the chance to right my greatest error! Lady Marianne, please give this lowly soldier your strength so I may continue to look for your children! FOR LORD LELOUCH! FOR LADY NUNNALLY!'_

With that thought burning in his mind, Jeremiah jumped from the ground and tackled one of the purist faction frames, creating an opening. The other frames quickly pursued, firing several rounds at the fleeing Margrave, some of them hitting unfortunate Elevens who were still in the area trying to avoid the conflict.

"Don't worry about the Eleven trash, just concentrate on brining that traitor down! For the glory of Britannia and the Purist Faction!"

Jeremiah gritted his teeth as he continued to run, "Damn that Kewell…there has to be some way out of this…"

* * *

After saying their goodbyes to the vendor, who had gifted them with a few items that he refused to take back, Rai and Euphie continued with their walk further into the ghetto. Seeing the poor state of the area quickly brought down the vibrant young woman's mood, while the tension in the atmosphere unnerved the amnesiac young man. For some reason, something about the place felt familiar to him…and not in a good way.

"I don't think it would be wise to remain here for too long, Miss Euphie," Rai advised quietly, his eyes unconsciously scanning about for any signs of danger, "There is a palpable tension here. Almost as if the deceased are crying out even after death."

"I will not be long," Euphie reassured, gently squeezing his upper arm to put him at ease, "This place…it's horrible, the horrors these people have been forced to suffer. To think I've been blind to all this until now…"

As they continued on, the two passed a makeshift memorial made to honor the lives lost in the Shinjuku massacre. Several pictures were taped onto broken metal beams, with flowers, ribbons, toys and more placed on the ground beneath them. Stepping up to the memorial, Euphie knelt and bowed her head, saying a silent prayer for the dead. Rai stood back and observed, while silently fuming at the meaningless loss of so much life.

' _So many innocent people killed…and for what reason? Just because they were different from those who 'rule' them?'_

Though as Rai continued to think such thoughts, a grimace found its way onto his lips as he had a sinking feeling that in his past, there was a chance he could have been the same way. He shook his head to throw away such thoughts and put a neutral face on so Euphie didn't have to worry about him on top of the emotional stress she was already feeling.

Slowly rising back to her feet, the pink-haired woman turned and walked back to her 'bodyguard' for the day. Rai could tell that she was trying her best not to cry, the unshed tears glistening in her eyes, "Are you…alright, Miss Euphie?"

Euphie nodded, "Yes…I'll be just fine. This trip was just what I needed," she looked back into the young man's eyes, her own shifting from saddened to determined, "Thank you so much for bringing me here despite the dangers. I don't think I can ever repay you for your kindness."

"There's no need to thank me Miss Euphie, I was happy to be of assistance," Rai replied, dismissing her gratitude with a small wave of his hand. "So I guess this marks the end of our time together?"

Euphie pouted, upset that her time with the silver-haired young man had come to an end. She truly wanted to spend more time with him despite barely knowing him. "Actually…maybe we can still-"

Whatever she meant to say was cut off by the sound of something crashing into the ground only a few blocks away. Rai moved quickly to cover the young woman from the cloud of dust that rushed towards them, wincing as several small rocks hit him in the back. Thankfully they had been far away enough from the area of impact that there was no injury to him save some scuffs on his clothes.

"Miss Euphie, are you alright!?" he asked as the dust began to settle. Euphie shook in his arms from the shock, but was soon able to calm herself down, "Y-Yes, I'm fine. What happened?!"

"I'm not sure," looking down the road, the amnesiac boy spotted what looked to be a downed knightmare frame, pitted with scars from taking gunfire and dented from several slash harken attacks. The frame slowly got back to its feet and rolled off as fast as it could.

"GET BACK HERE, TRAITOR!" Kewell cried out as he and his four cohorts resumed the chase. One of them managed to cut Jeremiah off, "Got you now!"

Seeing the battle begin to unfold, Rai quickly pulled Euphie to her feet and ran from the scene with her in tow. "We have to move, now! If a battle breaks out here we will not survive it!"

Euphie struggled to keep up, her breathing erratic and eyes wide as she glanced back to see the carnage. Jeremiah's Sutherland had just had its escape sealed off, but the desperate soldier thrust his lance forward, piercing the opposing frame's midsection and flinging it away…right at Rai and Euphie. So desperate to get her to the safety that was in front of him, Rai didn't see the danger that was coming from behind. Thankfully, the one he was pulling along WAS aware and that alertness ended up saving them both.

"GET DOWN!" Euphie screamed as she pulled Rai to the ground, the boy's head just barely avoiding being torn off by the flying armor. The frame crashed into another wrecked apartment building, the impact decimating the front of it and knocking loose the walls of the adjacent ruin.

"Damn that bastard! Men! Continue the pursuit! Don't lose sight of the traitor, he has nowhere to hide!" Kewell ordered furiously as he and the remaining three frames dashed off after Lord Gottwald. Back at the ruined area, Euphie coughed some dust out of her lungs as she and Rai got back to their feet, "Are you….alright, Rai?"

Rai shook some of the dust from his hair and graced the young woman with a smile that brought a small blush to her face, "I am ok, thanks to you and your quick reflexes."

Looking around the area, the silver-haired boy grimaced. Most of the buildings had been flattened by Jeremiah's escape, with others being pitted with holes from gunfire. Thankfully, that section of the ghetto was mostly abandoned, so casualties had been kept to a bare minimum.

' _So long as we're both still on foot, we won't be able to escape should those knightmare frames return…there has to be a faster way out of here,'_ Rai mused as the sounds of battle echoed from afar. He suddenly found his eyes pulled towards the downed Sutherland frame that the fleeing Gottwald had taken out. Guided by an unknown sense, Rai quickly ran towards the unit, as Euphie struggled to keep up with him. Reaching the knightmare's foot, the silver-haired boy quickly saw the damage from Jeremiah's lance.

' _The lance seems to have missed most of the vital components, which means this Sutherland should still be operational. Movement may be compromised by about 30%, combat capability is also compromised by approximately 40%, however if engagement can be avoided, it should still-'_

Euphie stared at Rai worriedly as he climbed the rubble up to where the cockpit should be. Keying in a code on the side that he had quickly noticed someone wrote down next to the controls, the young man stared blankly as the hatch opened and ejected the seat, revealing an unconscious and apparently quite forgetful Purist pilot. He wasn't bleeding anywhere, and his breathing was even, indicating he had simply fallen unconscious from the impact.

"Miss Euphie, I believe we can use this to escape. Please get in," Rai requested, the pink-haired woman being jarred from the shock of seeing him expertly unlock the Sutherland's cockpit and heading over to the boy. With a little assistance from Rai, she was able to reach the top of the rubble pile to the seat, however it was here she noticed a small problem.

"Rai, I don't think both of us can fit in here…this cockpit looks a bit cramped-"

"Just sit in my lap while I pilot. It will be a little inconvenient, but it will ensure that we get out of this alive."

' _In…his…lap…'_ The pink-haired beauty blushed even worse at the suggestion, until the sound of the battle starting to get closer again forced her hand. Waiting for Rai to get into the seat, Euphie carefully sat on top of him before he closed the unit, making sure she was sitting squarely on his legs and not further up on his lap. Moments later, the lights from the monitors came on, along with a warning regarding the damage. Rai entered several commands on the interface, once more getting the code from a note left next to the controls by the impossibly inattentive pilot and the unit slowly began to get back onto its feet, landspinners screeching as they struggled to get a good footing on the ground.

"Rai…how do you know how to operate one of these?" Euphie asked, before gasping at the almost mechanical look that had appeared in the young man's eyes, _'It's as if he's in a trance of some kind…'_

"I…am not sure, but I am grateful that I possess this knowledge," the silver-haired boy replied haltingly, as if he himself was in conflict over his newly discovered skill set, "Now we can leave the area without issue."

As he slowly managed to move the Sutherland from the rubble, a large crashing sound echoed from two blocks down. Jeremiah's Sutherland once again slammed through a building, however it was now missing its right arm, lance, and left leg from the knee down. Standing triumphantly over the downed frame, Kewell and the remaining three purists aimed their lances for the killing blow.

"Don't worry Lord Jeremiah, we'll say you died in battle. Your family name will not be disgraced."

"KEWELL! YOU BASTARD, YOU ACTUALLY INTEND TO KILL ME?!" Jeremiah screamed, consumed with rage at his former subordinate's betrayal.

Kewell sneered, "This is the only way we can cleanse the Purists before Princess Cornelia assumes control of this area," the Purist then noticed the damaged Sutherland standing not too far away, "Ah, so you survived. Very good. Come here and help us dispose of this filthy traitor so we can make our report."

Rai and Euphie stood still, one calm while the other glanced over in worry, "Rai…what will they do if they realize it's not their comrade in here, but us?"

The silver haired man paused, as he slowly began weighing their options in his mind, _'Engagement should be avoided here…I don't know if I can operate this thing well enough in a combat situation. But I don't believe I can get far before those units overtake us…'_

"Unit 5, respond! Are you unable to assist due to damage?" Kewell asked again before activating the video feed, "Unit 5-wait, who are you?! What are civilians doing inside a Britannian knightmare frame?!"

Turning to two of his subordinates, the new Purist faction leader ordered, "Units 2 and 3, subdue that Sutherland while Unit 4 and I dispose of this man!"

"Yes sir!" the two replied before turning their lances towards Rai and Euphie, their landspinners kicking up a cloud of dust as they charged.

"Rai! They're coming!" Euphie warned. The silver haired boy quickly brought up his own lance in an expert block, preventing the two units from taking out his arms.

' _It's unavoidable now…I have to protect Miss Euphie'_

Suddenly, a flash passed through the amnesiac's mind, and he heard the echoes of voices in his head.

'… _Protect them…Save them…'_

' _Your power will save the world…will save the ones you love…'_

' _Test results exceed expectations…combat capabilities are well beyond predicted parameters….'_

' _Fight….kill….survive…'_

Euphie watched in shock as Rai raised his head, his eyes hollow yet filled with a strong determination.

His hands shifted on the controls and the Sutherland suddenly threw the other two units back, catching both pilots by surprise.

"What the hell…how did he manage that?!"

Aiming his own lance at the two aggressors, Rai uttered several words before he struck back.

"Mission Acknowledged. Protect Euphie…destroy ALL threats. Mission…engage!"

* * *

"Dammit…first Rai goes missing, and now there's a battle going on in Shinjuku…" Kallen cursed as she piloted her red Sutherland carefully through the ruins of the ghetto. She had gotten a call from Tamaki about a squad of Britannian Sutherlands fighting one of their own while she had been looking all over campus for the missing amnesiac. Forced to abandon her search, the red-haired rebel quickly made her way to the Resistance outpost and boarded her knightmare frame, taking to the streets minutes later. Using her radar and the sound of battle that echoed in the air, Kallen was quickly able to find the enemy frames.

"This is Kallen, I've located the Britannians. Seems like one is damaged on the ground, two of them are about to finish it off," she then glanced over to the others…and gasped in shock at what befell her eyes. Though she felt numb, her fingers clumsily managed to hit the record button on her factosphere.

"Kallen? Is something wrong? What's going on over there?!"

"…Ohgi…you're not gonna believe this…"

* * *

"Have you reached the target point yet, Suzaku?" Cecile asked over the communication link as Suzaku forced the Lancelot to move faster through the rubble-ridden streets. After being picked up from the courthouse by Lloyd, the recently acquitted Honorary Britannian had been taken to an abandoned stadium in Shinjuku to run some more tests on the Lancelot. Not too long after their arrival, the sound of battle taking place interrupted the testing. Getting a bad feeling, Suzaku immediately launched, despite the mild and quite insincere protests from the sociopathic scientist.

"I'm approaching it now, so far no signs of conflict," Suzaku answered back, keeping his eyes peeled for the offending units. All around him he could see the signs of battle, from the bullet-ridden buildings to the wild tracks left in the ground from landspinners. Turning another corner, the green-eyed pilot saw a downed Sutherland missing several parts as it was about to be skewered by two other Sutherlands' lances.

"I found them! It looks like the Purist Factions is assassinating one of their own…wait, there's another fight going on not too far away from that one."

Forcing the Lancelot to jump onto one of the sturdier buildings for a better look, Suzaku immediately turned towards the sounds of another fierce battle.

"See anything of interest, Private Kururugi?" Lloyd's disinterested voice filtered over the radio, before Cecile pushed him away from the microphone, "Have you found anything else of note?"

Suzaku focused his attention on the fight between three other Purist faction Sutherlands. Two were ganging up on another of their own, who seemed to be damaged, "Two other frames are about to take on another of their own. The solo frame is damaged-wait, it's charging!"

The honorary britannian's eyes widened in disbelief at what he witnessed next and it was all he could do to remember to link the video feed to his compatriots.

* * *

"What the hell-AAAAHHHHH!" the pilot of Unit 2 could only scream as he was skewered on the point of Rai's lance, the weapon passing clean through the cockpit and killing the pilot instantly before the silver-haired boy swung the unit off his weapon into another building, the ruptured generator going critical and exploding in brilliant fashion, ensuring the total destruction of the enemy.

"…Impossible…he just took out Unit 2 like he was a new recruit! How the hell does a civilian do that?!" the pilot of Unit 3 panicked before charging desperately, "DAMN YOU, BASTARD!"

Rai effortlessly deflected the incoming lance with his own before punching the offending unit in its factosphere, effectively blinding it. While Unit 3 tried to get its bearings back, the silver-haired boy quickly used its slash harkens to take out its arms before thrusting his lance into the midsection of the frame.

"Dammit! He got me right in the generator! Lord Kewell, look out!"

The cockpit ejected just as the Sutherland went up in flames as well. The fires cast an ominous shadow on Rai and Euphie's damaged knightmare as it turned to face Kewell and Unit 4.

"…Rai…how did you…" Euphie asked softly, her eyes frightened as she watched Rai decimate the two attacking Sutherlands with calculated ease. Rai said nothing to her as he prepared to attack anyone else that would try to harm Euphie, "Mission update: two enemy units downed. Threat level to Euphie remains high. Continuing mission." He muttered, along with various other status updates that showed up in a continuous stream from the Sutherland itself, which had been pushed far beyond its design limits and was on the verge of a complete breakdown.

"That boy can't be a regular civilian! He must be with the resistance or the terrorists from the other day!" Kewell shrieked in panic as he stood by and watched his men be killed almost effortlessly, "Unit 4! Destroy them!"

"Y-Y-Yes sir!" Unit 4 hesitated for a few moments before charging lance first. Rai's Sutherland charged as well, using the momentum to jump and flip over the desperate lunge. Placing his unit's hand on the lance to position him for the best counterattack, Rai plunged the weapon down right into the cockpit unit of Unit 4. The pilot never saw his death coming until he had already been crushed, his unit crumbling to the ground in a motionless heap.

' _How?! HOW?! HE DEFEATED THREE OF MY BEST PILOTS IN MERE MINUTES!_ Kewell shook with fear as the rogue Sutherland slowly made its way towards him in a slow and methodical 'walk', almost as if it were a predator savoring the kill it wanted most of all. Meanwhile, on the ground, Jeremiah was speechless at the display of combat prowess. The Purist Faction had some of the most elite pilots in the Britannian army. To see a civilian utterly defeat three of them in a span of a few minutes was mind-boggling.

' _They never stood a chance…whoever that boy is…he's a monster…'_

Kewell's Sutherland reached toward its hip and grabbed a cylindrical device, "Stay back! You monstrous fiend! This is a chaos mine! Either cease your resistance or die!"

Seeing the offending knightmare refuse to stop, the enraged Purist quickly hurled the mine into the air.

Euphie's eyes widened in fear, "Rai! We have to take cover!"

Just before Rai could move, a white blur landed in front of them just as the mine went off. Countless fragments of shrapnel crashed into the emerald-colored Blaze Luminous shields emitted by the Lancelot as it shielded itself and the rogue Sutherland behind it. Despite being only in the testing phases and even threatening to fail a few times, the shield held strong and weathered the assault. Once the mine was depleted, Suzaku lowered his shields before hailing all the other units on his radio, "What is the meaning of this battle?! Aren't you all fellow Britannian soldiers?!"

"What business does the Special Corps have here?!" Kewell demanded, temporarily overcoming his fear by addressing the Honorary Britannian, "Any who interfere will die! That includes you and that inhuman bastard behind you!"

"You can't be serious-OMPH" Suzaku grunted as the Lancelot was pushed out of the way by Rai, the rogue Sutherland charging Kewell. The silver haired boy glared at the unit that dared to try and kill his new friend, "Mission update: Kill the Leader, Protect Euphie. Nothing else matters. Mission…"

"STOP RAI! PLEASE!"

The boy halted just as the tip of his lance scraped against the chest of Kewell's Sutherland. Inside the cockpit, Euphie hugged herself to him, her head pushing into his neck as she fought her tears, "Please…you've done enough…you've kept me safe, you won. So please…please don't fight anymore…I can't…I can't bear to see you like this!"

Hearing the desperation and fear in her voice snapped Rai out of his combat trance. Looking down at the beautiful woman in his lap, the young man was surprised to see tears running down her face.

"Euphie…what happened? What did I…?"

Kewell overheard the exchange through the video, and used the camera to focus on the woman in the boy's lap, "…Euphie…? Wait a minute…that face…"

The realization of who he had almost killed struck him like a lightning bolt, and all color vanished from his face, "P-P-PRINCESS EUPHEMIA?!"

* * *

With the danger now past, Rai knelt his Sutherland on the ground before opening the cockpit and carefully exiting with the princess following behind, safely jumping down into his arms once more before reaching the ground. The Lancelot also knelt down as its support truck drove up and parked next to it. Over by Jeremiah's fallen unit, Villetta, who had been rushing from her post to provide support, finally arrived alongside Princess Cornelia and her troops, with a few surrounding Kewell's unit and taking the Purist Faction leader into custody. Villetta hurried over to Jeremiah's fallen knightmare and helped him out of the cockpit, the wounded but still alert man nodding his thanks to his only true loyal subordinate.

Seeing her sister land, Euphemia sighed slightly before looking up at the silver-haired boy standing next to her, "Well…I suppose this is the end of our little adventure together."

She failed to notice the troubled look on Rai's face, "Euphie…what…happened while we were in that frame? I…cannot seem to remember what happened after they started attacking us…"

"What?! You mean you don't remember how you saved us?" The pink-haired princess asked, shocked at how the boy couldn't recall his merciless defense against the purists. As he tried to think back, Rai suddenly collapsed to his knees, holding his head in pain as tears began to run down his eyes.

"Rai! Are you alright?! Rai!" Euphemia knelt down next to him and cradled him in her arms while the boy groaned in pain, "Someone help him, please!"

Suzaku immediately ran over and gently grabbed the tormented young man's shoulders, "Take it easy, we've got you."

Rai was deaf to either of them, his head being assaulted by fragmented memories. He saw himself submerged in a tank of some kind while wires were connected to his brain, followed by images of him in a simulator cockpit training for knightmare frame combat. More and more, the memories assaulted him until they finally ceased. He nearly cracked and was about to scream his lungs out from the phantom pains that were assaulting him when he managed to somehow regain control of his body. Gasping for breath and shaking badly, he took a moment to settle his breathing as time resumed for him after breaking out of that nightmarish vision. When he felt as well as he could manage, the boy released his head and looked up at Euphemia and Suzaku, "…I'm…I'm alright now…"

Suzaku carefully helped the boy to his feet and led him over to the support truck, where he sat him down on a makeshift bench, "Just sit down for a minute and rest a bit. Lloyd and Cecile can take us to a hospital to get you checked up."

Standing on the side, Euphemia watched on with slight worry as Suzaku and Cecile tried to put Rai at ease. She was quickly joined by Lloyd, who seemed rather excited at the moment, "Well, well, it seems you've had quite an outing, Your Highness."

"It was rather…interesting," Euphie replied, before turning to face the young Earl, "May I trouble you by requesting that you look after this young man for me? Just until he's recovered?"

"It would be my pleasure, Princess Euphemia," Lloyd answered with an extravagant bow.

Euphemia returned the bow with a small nod of her head, "I thank you for your assistance."

"Euphemia!"

The pink-haired princess turned to see her older sister Cornelia walking over to her quickly, flanked by two of her personal guard. Seeing the confrontation about to happen, Lloyd quickly made himself scarce, walking over to the seated Rai and Suzaku. The silver-haired boy was currently drinking water from a bottle given to him by the Lancelot pilot, a small towel draped on his neck to wipe his sweat. It didn't escape the brown haired boys' sight either that Rai's hand was still trembling slightly as he drank the water and that his eyes were slightly unfocused as well.

"So how is our dear civilian feeling, hmmm?" the Earl asked. Rai looked up at the man curiously before responding, "I…I feel better now…but I am still rather weak. Again, I apologize for the trouble I might have caused everyone. Though I do confess I don't know what kind of trouble I have caused in the first place."

"Nonsense! I must say, watching your battle through the Lancelot's camera was rather exhilarating!" Lloyd's smile was a little _too_ wide for Suzaku's liking, and he quickly realized where this was going, "As a matter of fact, would you be willing to try something before we take you back to…wherever is it that you're from again after we get a proper doctor to patch you up?"

"…Ashford Academy, sir."

"Right. Hmm…that sounds familiar for some reason…oh well! So what do you say, think you can give us a hand before we return you?"

Seeing no reason to refuse, despite Suzaku's subtle warnings with his hands, Rai nodded, "Of course. It's the least I can do for your help."

Suzaku cringed, _'He has no idea what he just did…'_

Meanwhile, unseen by any of the Britannian forces, Kallen's Sutherland raced away from the scene, the girl still in complete disbelief at what she had just seen.

' _No way…to think that Rai of all people…THREE knightmare frame kills in only a few minutes! Who the hell is he?!'_

The sound of her phone going off tore Kallen from her thoughts. Recognizing the number, she paled a bit before answering, "H-Hello Milly….y-y-yes, I managed to find Rai. He wandered off into the city, but he's in good hands….no I'm not with him, but I promise you he will come back just fine…right…ok, I'll talk to you soon."

The rebel pilot sighed as she hung up, grateful that the president of the student council didn't seem _too_ perturbed at what happened, _'That could've ended a whole lot worse…still…'_

Entering a few commands onto the interface, she compiled the recorded feed of Rai's battle while at the same time dialing a different number on her phone, _'He said he wasn't with the Britannians…but his combat ability had to come from somewhere…this seems like something_ he _would probably want to know about.'_

The sound of an altered voice filtered through the radio, "What is it, Q1? It must be important if you're calling thru the emergency line…"

"Zero, I think I have something you might want to see…because I'm still having trouble believing it and I actually saw the whole thing happen myself!"

* * *

"So he entered our realm for a bit…that's interesting…I didn't think he would be able to access it so soon…"

C.C. gazed up at the ceiling of Lelouch's room with a bored expression, a slice of pizza held limply in her hand as she sat on his bed. The floor near her feet was covered in empty and half-empty pizza boxes while her white jumpsuit was thrown carelessly onto the chair in front of Lelouch's desk, the strange girl opting to lounge in a simple pair of white panties and a bra.

Taking another bite out of her pizza, C.C. continued with her conversation, "You sound impressed, Marianne. I thought you already knew what he was capable of…"

The green-haired girl then smirked as she looked out the window, "Yes…he will definitely start to make things more interesting from now on. I wonder what he'll decide to do once his memories return…"

Getting up for a minute to stretch her legs, the witch let out a gentle laugh, "Hah! I doubt he'll do anything that drastic anytime soon. But yes, whatever he decides to do will more than likely shake things up in this world….Don't worry, I'll look after your children and keep them safe should Rai choose to do something that could harm them. I owe you that much at least…Though I do believe our Forgotten King won't be too much of an issue. Not after how his whole worldview was rattled during his fall from grace."

Finishing the pizza slice, C.C. licked her fingers and savored the lingering taste of melted cheese as she sat back down on the bed, "Oh, Lelouch has been doing just fine. He's so easy to tease though…you don't believe me?"

Rising to a challenge unheard by anyone but her, C.C.s smile grew more mischievous, "Fine then…I think I hear him coming now, so just watch and see for yourself."

As Lelouch's voice grew louder outside in the hallway, the green-haired woman quickly removed her undergarments, and laid herself bare on the bed in a sensual, yet seemingly oblivious pose. The door soon opened and the dark haired young man walked in, occupied with a phone call.

"Send me the feed through the secure line. I'll take a look at it and decide from there. Just make sure you get back in time for us to plan our next move."

Hanging up the phone, Lelouch rubbed his eyes before looking over at the bed, "I see you actually stayed put today-"

The raven-haired boy froze as he took in C.C. casually eating a pizza slice while reading a book on his bed…completely nude. Her white bra and panties were now casually thrown against his laptop, knowing full well he was going to use that first when he came in the room.

"Hello Lelouch. Did you have a good day in school?" the green-haired woman asked disinterestedly, feigning ignorance at the effect her naked body was having on the young man, _'See? Too easy Marianne…too easy.'_

The poor boy's face turned red enough to rival the color of Kallen's hair. It was a good thing that his room was soundproof, for what he yelled next would have shaken the entire building if it wasn't.

"DAMMIT YOU WITCH! PUT SOME CLOTHES ON!"

* * *

"What you did was reckless and foolish! You could have gotten yourself killed!"

Within their shared common room in the Viceroy's Palace, located at the center of the Tokyo Settlement, Cornelia looked down at her sister disappointedly as she continued to scold her for her casual visit to Shinjuku, "Honestly, if it hadn't been for that Honorary Britannian pilot and that civilian, who knows what could have happened?!"

"I apologize for causing you so much trouble, sister," Euphemia said softly, her gaze on the ground before she looked up into Cornelia's eyes, "However, I do not apologize for going to Shinjuku. I am tired of being sheltered from the world, and I refuse to remain blind to the plight of these people who have suffered for so long under OUR rule!"

Cornelia sighed in frustration, "First off…you will address me as Viceroy while we are here, Sub-Viceroy Euphemia. Since we're sisters, we must adhere to a stricter protocol. And second, while I understand your passion," she paused for a moment, her eyes narrowing in slight distaste, "…misplaced as I believe it to be…at the same time you must understand your position. We are in enemy territory now, and until these rebels have be brought to heel, you must exercise greater caution."

Euphemia could only nod her assent, "Very well…Viceroy Cornelia. I will be more careful in the future."

The new Governer-General of Area 11 smiled a bit, "That's all I ask. Now then, I'm going to go get a report on these rebels from the headquarters here. I suggest you go get some rest. You've had a rather stressful day."

Cornelia turned to the door and left, her two guards following after hear, leaving Euphemia in the living room alone. Sighing, she sat down on a luxurious-looking red plush chair, lost in her thought about her day with Rai.

' _I wonder if he's doing alright,'_ she mused before looking down at her hand, the same one Rai had held for so long throughout their time together.

' _It's strange…how someone can be so warm, calm, and peaceful one moment, and then the next'_ she frowned as she remembered how Rai suddenly became a vicious killing machine when he defeated those Purist Faction Sutherlands, all in the name of protecting her. Shaking her head, she thought back to the earlier parts of their outing, and the memory of his gentle smile.

She smiled with a blush on her face as she held her hand to her chest, Rai's face firmly planted in her mind.

' _I hope we have a chance to meet again, Rai…'_

* * *

 **Author's Note -** Back again, back again. This one was a little harder to write up, but thankfully me and my beta managed to grind it out. For anyone questioning just how Cornelia was able to get to Shinjuku so fast, all I'll say is this: don't EVER underestimate mama bear when her cut is in danger. Cornelia is far craftier than most, and has her ways of keeping tabs on Euphie...ways that will show up soon.

Rai seems to be unwittingly racking up his count of wooed women. Also seems Lelouch caught whatever bug got Rai, if C.C.'s actions are any indication. Hmm...

I have to give credit where credit is due, having Rai sound like Heero Yuy from Mobile Suit Gundam Wing during that battle was my beta's idea, and I think it worked out pretty well. You're the ultimate judges though, so like, review, CONSTRUCTIVELY critique (remember, all flames will be met with deletion and napalm...fight fire with fire son).

The next few chapters will be focusing more on the secondary characters, mainly Lelouch and the Black Knights gang, but fear not. Rai will have plenty of moments to shine in those chapters too. More developments and romance and slightly lime-y stuff to come next, so stay tuned and don't touch that dial.

Much thanks again to Cloud Link Zero for being an awesome beta and bearing with my long periods of silence...as well as throwing wrenches at my head to get me back to work.

Til next time y'all

Ciph signin' out


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